The Concordia Stingers had to go to overtime to take down the Victoria Vikes by a score of 29-20 in a consolation semifinal game at the U Sports national women’s rugby championship in Victoria this afternoon.
The hard-fought victory put the Stingers in the consolation championship game versus the McMaster Marauders on Sunday at 2 p.m. EST.
Post-game, Concordia head coach Graeme McGravie was happy with his team’s effort despite a couple of hiccups.
“We are good at what we do and we got caught up trying to play like UVic instead of playing like Concordia,” he said. “That was always going to be a recipe for disaster for us. We just had to remind the team what got us here and win or lose we may as well play the best that we are capable of playing.”
A try from centre Frédérique Rajotte was the only scoring for the Stingers in the first half. The Vikes had a 10-5 lead mid-way through regulation time.
In the second half the Stingers cashed in with a try from No. 8 Jenna Thompson and a convert from Alex Ste Marie who would also add a penalty goal in the 56th minute to give Concordia a 15-10 lead.
Victoria’s Gabrielle Senft scored for the Vikes with seconds remaining to tie the game and force overtime.
In extra time the Stingers’ Thompson and fullback Emily Hickson scored tries and both were converted by Ste Marie to give Concordia a 29-15 lead. A late try by Victoria made the final score 29-20.
“We showed a lot of character in overtime and I’m happy with how we played,” said McGravie.
SCORING SUMMARY
- UVIC PG – Jess Neilson – 3-0
- CON Try – Frédérique Rajotte (convert missed) – 5-3
- UVIC Try – Chelsey Minter (Jess Neilson convert) 10-5
- CON Try – Jenna Thompson (Alex Ste Marie convert) – 12-10
- CON PG – Alex Ste Marie – 15-10
- UVIC Try – Gabrielle Senft (convert missed) 15-15
- CON Try – Jenna Thompson (Alex Ste Marie convert) – 22-15
- CON Try – Emily Hickson (Alex Ste Marie convert) – 29-15
- UVIC Try – Jamie Beck (convert missed) 29-20
Players of the Game
CON – Laura Read
UVIC – Jess Neilson
