Stingers destroy Bishop’s Gaiters

Well it’s business as usual for Concordia’s women’s rugby, as they rolled over Bishop’s 53-0 in their season opener.
With a start like this, the upcoming season promises to live up to, if not better, last season’s performance where Concordia defeated every opponent double-digits to zero, except McGill.
Usually it’s rather trite and boring to mention the weather conditions of a game, but this time it was the major factor. Last Sunday was so unseasonably hot and muggy that the players used expletives when describing it, and would “sweat buckets just by standing out there,” as one player put it.
“The difference was that we were only able to keep it together [in the heat] a bit more than they were,” explained Stinger assistant captain Joanne Auger.
With only a week of practice under their belts, head coach Sheila Turner relied heavily on returning veterans and those would had been playing during the summer for city clubs. Like the men’s team, some Concordia players are hampered for the next few weeks by playing two games a weekend as the clubs and school seasons overlap. However one noticeable rookie to the team was Melissa Dykeman, who kicked through the last conversion points. This was the former touch football player’s first rugby game ever. She was replacing usual kicker Kyla Demers, who, due to an injury, was not up to her usual talents.
To put it bluntly, Concordia just out-did Bishop’s in practically ever aspect of play.
The Stingers’ were just bigger and faster than Bishop’s, quickly taking down any Bishop’s drive. However Bishop’s biggest hindrance was their lack in the backfield to stop any Concordia runners that broke through the front, which happened often.
Concordia’s performance was also rather rough around the edges, with a few missed passes and even more penalties. “We need to be careful with penalties. A lot were rookie stuff that the girls know they shouldn’t do,” said Auger.
There’s not enough room to list all the ways that Concordia scored, but suffice it to say they were quite good at it.
Veteran Lynda Domazet lead the team with three tries, followed by two from Leigh Garland, and tries from Kyla Demers, Sana Kavanaugh, Marcia McIntosh and Leila El-Kayem.
Concordia either had breakaways up the middle of the field, finding the hole and making a mockery of Bishop’s defense, or three to four of them would work along the side, showing off their quick hands and quicker feet, until one finally weaved her way into the end-zone.
After the game, Concordia’s head coach Sheila Turner expressed regret that the Bishop’s defense didn’t put up more of a fight to test Concordia’s defence under pressure. “They’re usually not very strong, but I kind of expected them to be stronger than this.”
As with any team that’s only been playing together for a little over a week what they need most is experience playing together as a unit.
“If we can find some chemistry, we’ll be there,” said Auger.
Concordia faces their toughest test today, as cross-town rivals, the McGill Martlets, visit Concordia Stadium this afternoon at 4:30pm.
McGill is known for being a bigger, stronger and more unified team. The Stingers lost all three meetings with the Martlets last year, including the championship game, though the score gap closed significantly throughout the season.

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