The St. Thomas Tommies beat Mount Allison Mounties 40-17 on Friday Sept. 25 at the Scotiabank Park South.
It was a cold and cloudy evening, but it didn’t slow down the Tommies who practiced energetically until the 7:00 p.m. kickoff.
The cold weather did not discourage fans from attending or boasted their support for the team.
Head Coach Meghan MacAfee was pleased with the game results.
“It was awesome. It was super close until the half, we dug deep, and I feel really proud,” said MacAfee. “Taylor Dube had a great game.”
The Tommies huddled in a circle and cheered as the ball was placed at center field. Both teams lined up at their benches as the National Anthem was played. Then it was game on.
The Mounties kicked off the ball and was caught by a Tommie which led to a scrum. STU maintained possession but quickly lost it to Mount Allison University who ran towards the Tommies end zone but was stopped ten yards short.
After a short scrum, Mounties Kaija Belec scored a try but missed the conversion kick.
After kickoff, STU caught the ball and a scrum ensued. A Tommie made some heavy hits as she plowed down a few Mounties and broke through their barrier.
At 11:40 in the game, Tommies scored their first try by Meaghan Gallant but failed on the conversion, tying the game 5-5.
There was a lot of out-of-bounds plays throughout the game, along with many intense scrums.
After a scrum at 26:00 in the game the ball was passed, missing the intended Tommie and was recovered by the Mounties.
Despite the amount of errors in the first, there was a lot of aggressive and competitive plays throughout.
STU then gained possession and ran 30 yards until being tackled, losing the ball to MAU. STU then regained possession of the ball by Taylor Dube, who scored a try after running almost 20 yards at 32:00 in the game. STU scored a conversion bringing the score 12-5.
After kickoff Tommies Captain Meghan MacEachern received a heavy tackle and went down hard injuring her leg. As the game continued, two coaches assisted MacEachern off the field but she changed her mind, turned around and returned to the game. Fans and players clapped as she limped back into the game.
She said after the game that, “It wasn’t really an injury, I’m fine.”
The Tommies ended the half by throwing the ball from out-of-bounds which bounced off the back of a fellow Tommies head and landed back out-of-bounds, inciting laughter in both fans and players.
The Tommies kicked off in the second which ended in a scrum where STU took possession for a while until Mounties gained control and Belec ran the ball in for a try. MAU’s conversion was wide bringing the score 12-10.
After kickoff a Tommie trampled through the Mounties line but was tackled and lost possession. The ball was kicked and received by STU who almost cleared the end zone by five yards before being tackled.
A scrum ensued and the Tommies pushed their way into the end zone scoring a try, and then a conversion kick.
Mounties Cat Bannon came back with another try and completed a conversion kick by Anna Gores almost tying the game at 19-17. Dube replied with another try and conversion putting them in a good position at 26-17.
A Mountie sustained a head injury at 68:41 in the game causing her to lay on her back as coaches and first responders came to her attention. Both teams practiced warmup exercises for 15 minutes until two coaches escorted her off the field.
At 71:00 STU received a penalty nearly allowing MAU to score.
Another Mountie received a small injury on her hand but her coach quickly fixed her up with tape and she continued to play.
Another physical scrum ensued by the Mounties goal line and the Tommies took possession of the ball and ran it in the end zone for a try, and completed a conversion kick by Dube.
With the score at 33-17, Dube scored a last try and conversion kick to finish the game 40-17.
Tommies women’s rugby fan, and father of one of the players, Alan Andrews enjoyed the game and was pleased with the outcome.
“It was a good battle. The game wasn’t decided until the 70 minute mark. There was good sportsmanship.”
The woman’s rugby team is 3-0 in their division
