The Concordia Stingers women’s rugby team played the undefeated Laval Rouge et Or to a 20-20 overtime tie in the Quebec university championship on Sunday afternoon, but lost the game on a tie-breaking formula as outlined in the QSSF rulebook.
Section 3.3.4 of the women’s university rugby “règlement spécifiques” states if a tie persists after two 10-minute overtime periods, the team that has scored the most tries during the game will be declared the winner. Laval scored three tries, while Concordia scored two tries – one each from Vanessa Grillo and Lisa Hoffman.
“I feel bad for our four graduating players,” said Concordia head coach Graeme McGravie. “It’s a horrible way to end your career.”
He also went on to say he prefers to see games decided on the field.
“That’s how it is,” McGravie said of the tie-breaking formula. “I’m not going to dwell on it. I can’t do anything about it.”
The Stingers finished the regular season in third-place with a 4-2 win-loss record. They upset the second-place McGill Martlets in the conference semifinals and they pushed the first-place, undefeated Rouge et Or to the limit.
“We had a great season and I’m so proud of them,” said the coach. “Our players really pushed themselves and each other. They just kept getting better every week and we were really peaking. We had a great combination of rookies and veterans and they just meshed.”
