The Concordia Stingers women’s rugby team wrapped up an impressive season by finishing fourth out of eight teams at the CIS national championship in Kingston, Ont. on the weekend.
The Stingers were dominant in their opening round game, defeating the Victoria Vikes 34-12 last Thursday and advancing to the national semifinal round.
Concordia met the host Queen’s Gaels on Saturday and suffered a disappointing 27-13 loss which relegated the team to the bronze medal game on Sunday.
On the final day, the RSEQ champion Ottawa Gee-Gees dominated the Stingers by a 65-7 score taking home the bronze medal and leaving Concordia in fourth place.
For Stingers head coach Graeme McGravie, it was a tough way to finish the season.
“Well, they were just way better than us,” he said after the Ottawa game. “We didn’t compete very well at the breakdown from the beginning and that was tough. They had another level we couldn’t match today.”
It was the Gee-Gees’ game right from the opening kickoff. Ottawa struck early with two quick tries to take a 12-0 lead. The Gee-Gees pushed their advantage to 33-0 by halftime.
Concordia found some traction late in the match forcing Ottawa to concede their shutout as Mercedes Martino scored the Stingers’ only try 33 minutes into the second half.
Irene Patrinos was selected as player of the game for Ottawa. Captain Samantha Ewing received the same honour for Concordia.
The McMaster Marauders won the gold medal game defeating Queen’s 27-3. After the final game, a 2015 CIS women’s rugby championship all-star team was named, and Concordia’s Alex Tessier was one of the honourees.
