VANCOUVER (CIS) – The fourth-seeded Concordia Stingers clinched their spot in the semifinals at the 2009 CIS Women’s Rugby Championship in with a 10-0 victory over the University of Western Mustangs in their first of two round-robin games.
Concordia and the top-seeded Lethbridge Pronghorns will represent Pool A in Saturday’s semifinals with the winner of the head-to-head game earning top spot in pool play.
The QSSF champions Stingers used stifling defence and just enough first half offence to put away the Mustangs.
“I thought we were outstanding,” said Concordia head coach Graeme McGravie. “We left a lot of points out there but we talked about dictating scrums, taking them on up front and we did that for a full 50 minutes today. We didn’t give up a lot of points all season. Defence is something the team worked really hard at every night in practice, and we knew it would put us in good stead when we got here.”
Ali Olshefsky opened the scoring midway through the first half, diving across the try line from one yard out. Sarah Scanlon made it 10-0 just before half .
The players of the game were Hughanna Gaw for Concordia and Western’s Stephanie Bailey.
