The scoreboard at College Field in Fredericton showed a less than desirable ending for the Tommies rugby teams’ seasons Saturday afternoon after the latest Battle of the Hill.
The St. Thomas University women’s squad was blanked 24-0 by the University of New Brunswick Ironwomen in the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association women’s rugby final after the Tommies men fell 42-17 to the UNB Ironmen in the Rugby New Brunswick Maritime University ‘A’ championship game.
Saturday’s ACAA final marked the third consecutive time the Tommies women have played for a league title, as well as the second straight year that STU and UNB met in the championship contest.
Tommies unable to solve Ironwomen
A strong defensive effort on UNB’s part kept STU off the scoreboard in Saturday’s ACAA final, even though Ironwomen head coach Kevin Wilson didn’t quite expect his team to shut the Tommies out.
“Last time we played each other, [the score] was 20-19 [for UNB],” he said.
“STU has a large and organized team, so we knew we had to be brave defensively.”
The Tommies had plenty of ball control, but it was the Ironwomen who generated enough offense to prevail.
Taylor Morgan led the UNB attack with three tries, while Amy Andrews added a try and Julija Rans kicked two conversions.
“I’m super proud of how the girls played,” said Tommies head coach Meghan Morrison.
“UNB played a hard game and kept us out of their end zone for tons of time.”
UNB advances to Maritime final with win over STU
Eric DuPlessis paced the Ironmen with four tries in Saturday’s men’s rugby championship.
James Mitchell, Kyle Patterson, John Monahan and Cam McIntyre added a try apiece, and the Ironmen were successful on one conversion kick.
“It was an extremely hard-fought game,” said UNB wing Alex Peppard.
“STU came out with everything they had and didn’t slow down at all.”
The Tommies’ tries came from Zach Lakes, Austin Comeau and Alex Thompson.
As well, STU was successful on one conversion kick.
“That was the performance we asked our guys for,” said Tommies assistant coach Eric Plant.
“They played the best rugby they’ve played all year, which is all you can ask of your players as a coach.”
With the victory over STU, the Ironmen will face the winners of the Rugby Nova Scotia university Division 1 final as they look to defend the Maritime championship for the fourth straight year next weekend.
Photos in slideshow by Nathan DeLong/The Aquinian
