Panthers continue to make history with 38-5 win over Acadia

By Thomas Becker 

Through two games, the UPEI Panthers are proving they're no fluke. 

A week after stunning the St. FX X-Women, the Panthers (2-0) came right back and took down the Acadia Axewomen (1-1)—a team that went undefeated in the regular season in 2021—38-5. 

This was the first time since 2011 that UPEI started the season 2-0 and atop the standings. So, it was understandable why emotions were high after the historic win. 

"Coming away with this win just shows that we're not here to mess around. We're here to go for it," said Brinten Comeau, who scored a try and was named the Subway Player of the Game.

Panthers head coach James Voye said while the first two wins are great, there's still plenty of season to go, and insists the team has to stay motivated.

"You can't look too far ahead," he said. "We're off to a good start, but we must stay focused and take care of business. Then maybe we can start thinking about hosting our first playoff game in a while." 

The start of the game was very much a feeling out process where both teams tried to gauge what the opposing game plans were. As a result, defence was at the forefront and points were hard to come by early on. 

"We obviously paid attention to film throughout the week. We identified the areas in their attack that we needed to apply pressure on, and you saw that early with some big hits," Voye said of his team's defence. 

Twelve minutes into the game, the Panthers were on the brink of scoring as they were just a few yards shy of the try line, but Acadia's defence stood tall and denied them each time they tried to break the line. 

The Axewomen countered with a long run minutes later that took them down the field, only for UPEI to stifle that threat.

But in the 29th minute, the Panthers broke the deadlock when Agustina Cohen (Halifax, NS) spun the ball over to Brinten Comeau (Hammonds Plains, NS), who found some space, made a move on a defender and fought her way the final five metres for the game's opening try. 

Ten minutes later, reigning U SPORTS Rugby Player of the Week Emily Duffy (Saint John, NB) scored her third try of the season, as she showed off her strength carrying defenders across the try line for the 14-0 halftime advantage. 

The Panthers carried that momentum into the second half, where the offence started to flow much easier. Annika Wadlegger (Clearwater, BC) was the first to score just minutes into the half. That was followed by a long run by MacKenzie Hale (Halifax, NS) in the 50th minute which set the stage for a Ria Johnston (Charlottetown, PE) try that pushed the lead to 28-0. 

Like Acadia had done in the past, UPEI found success on the outside lanes where their backs gained yards in bunches and consistently put them in great field position. Hale was at it again five minutes later when she burst through the defence, allowing Frances MacWilliam (Mill River, PE) to finish off the possession shortly after to extend the lead to 33-0.

After the game, Voye said he was pleased with how the offence took over in the second half.

"You saw them try to open it up a little bit more in the second half, where we were spinning the ball out wide, looking to offload, and play a little more dynamic." 

On the ensuing kickoff, Acadia took advantage of a Panther misplay and quickly scored to cut the deficit to 33-5 behind Sarah Palfy's (Sexsmith, AB) try.

But the Panthers were just too much to handle, as Emma MacLean (Cole Harbour, NS) added the team's sixth try of the afternoon for a 38-5 win. 

The Panthers look to improve to 3-0 next Friday when they travel to Halifax to take on the Saint Mary's Huskies, while Acadia hosts St. FX in a finals rematch Saturday afternoon.

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan