KINGSTON, Ont. (October 13, 2018) – The No.6 Queen's Gaels picked up a 29-24 victory over the No.9 McMaster Marauders in the OUA Semifinal to secure a berth into the OUA Championship.
Saturday's narrow win meant that the Gaels will square off once again with the No.3 Guelph Gryphons in the OUA Championship game for the second straight year. Last season, the Gryphons defeated the Gaels 43-17 in Guelph, where this year's championship game will be held.
Also on the afternoon, the Gaels secured a berth in the U SPORTS National Championship which will be hosted by Acadia. It is their second consecutive entry into the tournament, which features some of the elite women's rugby schools from across the country.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels opened the scoring in the 8
th minute as
Camille Irvine found some space along the right edge of the field for the try.
Nadia Popov then kicked a successful conversion to put the Gaels up 7-0.
However, it didn't take McMaster long to respond as in the 10
th minute Katie Svoboda took a pass from her sister Sara and scored a try. Sara Svoboda converted afterwards to even the game 7-7.
This is where
Nadia Popov took control as she carried the Gaels into a halftime advantage. With two tries to close out the second half, Popov propelled the Gaels to a 17-7 lead.
As the second half got underway, McMaster's Taylor Price brought the Marauders to within a single score as they narrowed the gap to 17-12 in 49
th minute.
However, a highlight play from the Gaels'
Sophie de Goede brought the Gaels lead back up to 10, as they lead 22-12 mid-way through the second half.
After McMaster trimmed the Gaels' lead to 22-17,
Pippi McKay won a ball from the ruck and dove into the end zone in the 75
th minute.
Nadia Popov's conversion was good as the Gaels took a 29-17 lead.
Katie Svoboda scored a late try and the Marauders nailed the conversion however it was too little too late as the final whistle blew shortly after.
POPOV'S BIG DAY
Popov played her final game at Nixon Field on Saturday afternoon. She has spent four seasons with the Gaels and during her time has hauled in accolades such as a U SPORTS All-Canadian, OUA All-Star and OUA Rookie of the Year all while having a prominent impact on Canadian women's rugby.
She had 14 of her team's 29 points, including 12 in the first half to lead the Gaels to victory. She'll have one more shot at the OUA Championship next weekend.
MUST-SEE MOMENTS
Popov's first try of the game set the tone for the remainder of the first half.
Sophie de Goede with the highlight play, nothing new to her of course.
The moment the Gaels have been working so hard for, another chance at the OUA Championship.
BY THE NUMBERS
14 – The Svoboda sisters combined for 14 points as they posed a consistent problem for the Gaels' back end all game long.
4 – Four different Gaels found the end zone in what was a strong overall team effort.
2 – This is the Gaels second consecutive victory over the Marauders in the OUA semifinal after winning 20-15 last year in Hamilton.
FINAL SAY
"We did the job we needed to do in the sense that we were off the line and in their face, we defended wonderfully and were very resilient," said Gaels' head coach
Dan Valley. "This time of year you don't get results against squads like [McMaster] without a total team effort."
UP NEXT
The Gaels will take on the No.3 Guelph Gryphons in the OUA Championship on Saturday, October 20 in Guelph, Ont.
The Gaels dropped their only meeting with the Gryphons 39-34 earlier this year in a close matchup at Nixon Field. The Gaels will look for revenge and to claim their second OUA title, and first since 2013 where they defeated the Gryphons in Guelph.
