The York University Lions women's rugby team returned home on Saturday evening looking to stay undefeated on their home pitch at Alumni Field, and push their overall record to 3-3 on the season.
With the Toronto Varsity Blues on the other side of the field (also holding a 2-3 record), the stage was set for an extremely competitive match, with a win for either team meaning a ticket to the OUA playoffs. A pregame ceremony was also held to recognize the efforts of the Lions graduating athletes, Danielle Pahl, Kelly Nguyen, Emma Bowen, Sydney Sullivan, Natashia Start and Erin Preston.
The Varsity Blues got on the board early on a try from Lauren Laubach, with a good conversion putting them up 7-0. Shortly after, Toronto added two more tries from Emma Yang to put them up 21-0 early.
The Lions finally got on the board on a try by the aforementioned Preston, with the conversion cutting the deficit to 21-7, getting the home crowd back into the game. However, right before the end of the half, the Varsity Blues added another try from Bailey Froese, to put them back up to 26-7, after a missed convert, through the first forty minutes.
U of T broke out for another try in the first two minutes of the second half by Sydney Heighington, which made it 33-7 Blues. The Lions got it right back however, as Preston ran in for a try, her second of the day, with the conversion making it 33-14. The Varsity Blues then responded with another try by Mary Adewa, with a failed conversion to widen the lead to 38-14. Toronto seemingly sealed the win with another Yang try to push the lead to 45-14. Minutes later, another try was added by Bailey Froese, with a failed conversion to push the score to 50-14. The Lions added a try of their own by Abbey Spiteri, with a good conversion to push back to 50-21 The Lions added one more late try by Spiteri, but fell by a final of 62-28.
LOOKING AHEAD:
With this loss, the Lions will miss the OUA playoffs. Their season comes to an end, although not without many positives to take away from the season. The team will return next season looking to strive for more off a solid building year under new head coach Spencer Robinson.
