The St. Thomas University men’s and women’s rugby teams played their annual Think Pink games on Oct. 20 against the Mount Allison University Mounties.
The women’s game started with the Tommies trailing early as the Mounties landed a try in the first five minutes.
The Tommies hopped onto the scoreboard 10 minutes later with a try, but missed out on the conversion, leaving them trailing by two.
Another 10 minutes passed as the Tommies put pressure on the Mounties. Emily Donelle capitalized and put the Tommies in the lead, with two tries back-to-back.
Shannon Morris pushed the Tommies’ lead even further by scoring a try with 10 minutes left in the first half.
The Tommies stayed strong ending the half with a score of 20-7.
The second half began evenly matched, but the Tommies gained another try with a pass from Bailey Andrews to Megan Pollard.
In the last minutes of the game Melissa Totten and Morris scored the final tries. The Tommies left victorious, with a score of 40-7, claiming their spot in the semifinals.
The men started off strong. Dexter Lathangue and Justyn Roberts opened up the scoring with a couple tries, and Oliver Larson grabbed one of the conversions, giving the Tommies a lead of 12-0.
With 10 minutes left in the first half the Tommies continued to dominate. Joey Hood gained a try and Larson made a conversion.
Hood ended the first half with a try and Larson capitalized on another conversion. Not long after, Roberts opened the second half scoring and Larson made the conversion putting the Tommies at 31-0.
The Tommies held onto their lead, thanks to some strong plays by Derek Bailey and Jesse Reynolds.
Zach Klassen and Peter Woulds both scored 20 minutes into the second half, giving the Tommies a distant lead of 45-0.
In the remaining minutes of the game, the Mounties got a try, bringing the final score to 45-7.
The men’s coaching staff was pleased with the teams performance and the afternoon’s outcome.
“It was a good performance, the boys played a hard 80 minutes,” said assistant coach Matthew Coffey.
“Everyone on the team, doesn’t matter the number on their back, made a really good impact this afternoon. We’re happy with the effort.”
Both the men’s and women’s rugby teams recognized their graduating players at the games.
The women’s team honoured its seven graduating players: Meghan Pollard, Bailey Andrews, Shannon Morris, Kristen Bulman, Katherine Merritt, Abbie LeBlanc and Hope Metallic.
The men honoured their six graduating players: Jack Aldridge, Derek Bailey, Jonathan Ginnish, Lyndon Pugh, John Scheele and Brad Sears.
