The Concordia Stingers put up a strong fight in their opening round game at the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championships on Wednesday in Kingston, Ont., but eventually succumbed 38-22 to the host Queen's Gaels.
The No. 4-seeded Gaels and the No. 5-seeded Stingers traded leads early on with Queen's holding a slight14-12 advantage heading into halftime. However, the Gaels pulled away in the last 30 minutes, outscoring the Stingers 24-10.
Thomas Kirkwood and Rien Van Der Ploeg led the way for the Gaels. Kirkwood finished the game with four converts and a penalty goal, while Van De Ploeg recorded a game-high two tries.
Stan Blazkowski, J.C. Vinette, Ben Laurin and Aidan McMullan scored tries for Concordia with Arthur Du Chaffaut adding a convert.
Will Matthews was named the Player of the Game for Queen's, while McMullan took the honour for Concordia.
The Stingers’ next game is Friday at 11 a.m. against the RMC Paladins in the consolation semifinals.
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST HALF
17' – CON – Try – Stan Blazkowski (convert missed) 5-0
22' – QUE – Try – Rien Van Der Ploeg (Thomas Kirkwood convert) 7-5
26' – CON – Try – J.C. Vinette (Arthur Du Chaffaut convert) 12-7
29' – QUE – Try – Rien Van Der Ploeg (Kirkwood convert) 14-12
SECOND HALF
41' – QUE – Try – Neil Trainor (Kirkwood convert) 21-12
45' – CON – Try – Ben Laurin (convert missed) 21-17
48' – QUE – Penalty – Thomas Kirkwood – 24-17
54' – QUE – Try – Stefan Zuliani (Kirkwood convert) 31-17
59' – CON – Try – Aidan McMullan (convert missed) 31-22
60' – QUE – Try – Will Matthews (Santi Guadarrama convert) 38-22
Photo Credits - Robin Kasem
