M-RUGBY ROUNDUP: Queen's spoils Brock homecoming with 24-17 win

Friday, September 19

Queen's 24 @ Brock 17

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's rugby (2-2 OUA) team gave the two-time defending OUA Champion Queen's Gaels (3-0 OUA) all they could handle Saturday afternoon in front of a capacity crowd on homecoming weekend despite falling by the score of 24-17.

Queen's took an early 12-0 lead, before Brock added a try late in the first half to make it a one possession game, 12-5. The Gaels tough offense would put pressure on the Badgers just before the end of the half and added a try to regain the 12-point lead 17-5. In the second half, Queen's would record another try and convert, extending their lead to 24-5.   

With the crowd on their side, the Badgers would battle back answering with two trys and a convert of their own, making it a six-point game 24-17. Brock would continue to pressure, but it was the Gaels coming away with their third victory of the season on the road.

Scoring trys for the Badgers were Ben Harmer, Spencer Labron and Jamie Corbett. Connor Fitzsimmons chipped in with a single convert.

For the Gaels, Kainoa Lloyd recorded two trys while Fraser Bruce and Brendan Sloan added singles. David Worsley converted on two of four convert attempts in the victory.

Source: Brock Badgers

Toronto 10 @ McMaster 43

With a boisterous crowd of alumni on hand baying for a win, the Marauder men's rugby team did not disappoint on Saturday.

McMaster hit its offensive stride midway through the first half, and cruised past the Toronto Varsity Blues to the tune of 43-10 at Back 10 Field.

A commendable defensive effort in the early minutes saw the Blues hold the Marauders off the scoreboard for the first 10 minutes of the match, but once they crossed the end line for the first time, the hosts took a firm hold on proceedings.

Mitch Santilli capped a dominant opening half with a try that Jamie Leveridge converted to give the Marauders a 26-0 lead at the break.

With a comfortable cushion, McMaster used the opportunity to empty its bench, and substitute Casey Bouk got his name on the scoresheet when he touched down for a 38-5 advantage.

Two mental lapses created easy tries for the Blues, and coach Dan Pletch will likely spend the week ironing those kinks out of his team's game. But with the lead they enjoyed, the Marauders were hardly made to pay for the mistakes.

Source: McMaster Marauders

Laurier 10 @ Western 55

LONDON, Ont. — A strong start in front of a purple clad Homecoming crowd gave Western all the offence they would need on Saturday afternoon, as the Mustangs scored three tries in the first 13 minutes on their way to a 55-10 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks at Alumni Field.
 
"Overall, the guys played much better than they did last week," Mustangs head coach David Knowles said of the effort after the game. "It was a good rebound after last week so I'm really happy with it."
 
Armin Gurdic, Peter Gray, and Jesse Richardson helped Western charge out of the gates, each registering a try to stake the Mustangs to a big early lead. But while the Mustangs wouldn't let Laurier onto the board until the second half— finishing the first up 29-0— there was a period when the Golden Hawks seemed to gain control of the play.
 
"It's very typical in games— you get out to such a quick lead and you think 'oh this is going to be an easy game' and then they kind of take their foot off the pedal and relax," said Knowles of the momentum shift. "It's common with a lot of teams— the good teams are the ones that can keep it going. We had a little bit of a lull but then we picked it back up at the end of the half and carried it on into the second half."
 
And carry it they did, increasing their lead to 34-0 just 4:30 into the half with a brilliant effort from Josh Bald before adding another try and a conversion just 10 minutes later. Frederico Cisneros Sanchez was responsible for the conversion, as he entered the game in the second half for the Mustangs and finished the day with three conversions to his name.
 
It would take Laurier 64 minutes to register their first point of the game, as Brandon Kostyk ran in the Golden Hawks' first try of the game before Matthew Sneath added a conversion. Laurier would get back on the board in the 72nd minute, when Sneath made the only penalty goal of the game to push his team to double digits.
 
But Western would still win the half, with Gray adding his second try of the game at 68 minutes before Rothman put the cherry on top with a try in the 73rd minute.
 
When asked after the game what his team needed to take from this game into their matchup against Waterloo next week, Knowles had a simple answer.
 
"Just momentum— we had a tough loss last week . . . and we just need to move on," he said. "Today was a good stepping stone. It's just momentum."
 
Knowles was also excited about another fact— that the men's rugby program fielded three teams on the same day.

"The other big thing to me— I think this is the first time in the school's history we've fielded three teams [in one day]," Knowles said. "[The 5 p.m. match against Laurier was] the third game going on— our third team was in Stratford today and won 22-10 and hopefully we're going to win [in our second game against Laurier tonight]. It's the first time in the school's history that three men's rugby sides fielded on the same day."

Source: Western Mustangs