The final week of AUS women's rugby action saw four games, in which the Acadia Axewomen picked up two wins over the StFX X-Women to clinch the league's top spot for the second year in a row.
The Axewomen jumped out of the gates quickly Wednesday night with a converted Sara Grant try three minutes into the opening half. The Axewomen struck again at the 8-minute mark when Juliette Matsukubo sprinted 80 yards for Acadia's second try and Matsukubo's eighth try of the season.
Trailing 12-0 after eight minutes, the X-Women would not be shut-out. Madelyn Weisshaar turned a 40-yard sprint into five points and Maddy Ross converted the try to cut the Axewomen lead to 12-7 after only 11 minutes of play.
Five minutes later, Axewoman Sarah Palfy dropped the shoulder and steamrolled in for Acadia's third try of the first half. Senior prop Maddie Harroun narrowed the 17-7 Acadia lead in the 19th minute to close the gap to 17-12. Grace Pinch scored her first of two tries, two minutes after Harroun.
Down 22-12, STFX's Lauren Stienburg led a maul that was converted by Maddie Ross to close the lead to 22-19.
Grace Pinch, who was named the AUS Subway Player of the Game, scored her second try of the night and fourth of the season. Senior 8-man Danielle Wisen added the eventual game-winner in the 68th minute.
Emma MacDougall's second try of the season, converted by Jill Griffith in the 73rd minute ended the high-scoring match with a 32-26 Acadia win.
Full game recap here.
Saturday afternoon, the Axewomen put a damper on StFX Homecoming weekend as they defeated the X-Women 24-12 at StFX Stadium.
The home team X-Women got gave the Homecoming crowd something to cheer about early on as flanker Camryn Kleynhans touched down for a try four minutes into the game, finding a hole through the Axewomen defense off a dish from Jillian Griffith.
The Axewomen answered right back, however, scoring a try of their own as Sara Grant sprinted through open X territory and touched down. She converted her own try to give the visitors a 7-5 lead, which would hold up at halftime.
Acadia's lead was extended to 12-5 when Grace Pinch touched down for an unconverted try 12 minutes into the second half.
The X-Women tied the game in the 63rd minute after prop Janet Kennedy touched over the try line after several sustained attempts from the X-Women to score. Maddy Ross booted to the conversion to lock the game at 12-12.
The Axewomen stormed right back, however, and regained their lead just five minutes later as Grant scored her second try of the game. The unconverted try gave Acadia a 17-12 lead with 12 minutes to play.
They padded their lead with a try from Lauren Deal with four minutes left in the game and Grant booted her second conversion of the afternoon to close out the 24-12 victory.
Axewomen lock Chloe Buckingham was the Subway player of the game, while X-Women flanker Camryn Kleynhans received player of the game honours for her team.
Full game recap here.
The UPEI Panthers and Saint Mary's Huskies also faced off twice this week, with the Panthers earning back-to-back victories to secure second place in the standings.
The USPORTS #7 ranked Panthers first topped the Huskies 66-5 Wednesday evening in Halifax.
Just over one minute into the match, a long run by Panthers flanker Brinten Comeau was finished off by centre Sophie Carragher for the try. Prop Fran MacWilliam added a conversion as the Panthers took a 7-0 lead.
Several minutes later, Comeau scored a try of her own, powering the ball across the line from just over five yards out to extend the Panthers lead to 12-0.
Just over 32 minutes into the action, the Huskies had stopped the Panthers several times on the try line, before hooker Tessa Hood had a nice fake and scored, with MacWilliam adding the conversation to extend the Panthers lead to 19-0.
About six minutes later, the Panthers added to their lead, as Carragher scored her second try of the match, with MacWilliam adding the conversion to give UPEI a 26-0 lead in the 38th minute.
The Panthers extended their lead to 40-0 in the second half, however, in the 57th minute, the Huskies hit the scoreboard as prop Devyn Di Nardo powered across the try line to cut the lead to 40-5.
In the 62nd minute, Panthers prop Emily Duffy scored a try, with MacWilliam converting, pushing the lead to 47-5.
UPEI continued to dominate throughout the second half, as just moments before the final whistle, the Panthers added another try as flanker Dara MacInnis sprinted to the corner to extend the lead to 66-5, which would go on to be the final score.
Panthers fly half Agustina Cohen was recognized as the Subway Player of the Game.
Full game recap here.
Saturday afternoon, the Panthers were relentless in their attack from the start, and it showed in the opening minutes when Emily McKenna spun a ball to her right to Emma MacLean, who fought off a few defenders for the try.
UPEI came right back in the seventh minute when Branchflower took a pass and burst through the right side for a 40-yard run and a 14-0 lead. In just her second career start, Cook put together another strong performance, as she scored the next two tries to make it 28-0.
On the ensuing possession, the Panthers willed their to another try as the pack pushed Comeau across the try line where she touched down. Annika Wadlegger and Mia Fradsham added two more trys before halftime, where UPEI led 45-0.
UPEI showed off their physicality on the next three trys, as they consistently drove hard from five metres out and willed their way through the Huskies' (0-6) defence. After 55 minutes of play, the lead grew to 62-0 thanks to Frances MacWilliam, who scored first in the second half, followed by Olivia McLeod—who recorded her first try of the season—and Comeau.
Rookie Lauren Bull recorded her second try in as many games, as the speedy wing attacked the left side and sprinted 45 yards for the score.
Hannah Bertrand added her first try of the season on a hard-fought run in the 66th minute, and Sophie Carragher concluded the scoring with another try late in the game to give the Panthers the 86-0 win.
With the win, the Panthers secured home-field advantage for next week's semifinal against the StFX X-Women. This will be the first time head coach James Voye hosts a playoff game since joining the UPEI coaching staff as an assistant coach in 2016.
Full game recap here.
Scores
Wednesday, Oct 12
StFX 26 at Acadia 32 (Re-scheduled from Sept. 25)
UPEI 66 at Saint Mary's 5 (Re-scheduled from Sept. 25)
Friday, Oct 7
Saint Mary's 0 at UPEI 86
Acadia 24 at StFX 12
Final Standings
- y-Acadia Axewomen (5-1) - 10 points
- x-UPEI Panthers (4-2) - 8 points
- x-StFX X-Women (3-3) - 6 points
- Saint Mary's Huskies (0-6) - 0 points
x - Clinched Playoff Berth
y - Clinched First Place