2011 CIS womenÕs rugby championship pools and schedule announced
OTTAWA (CIS) – The pools and schedule were officially announced on Sunday for the 2011 Canadian Interuniversity Sport women’s rugby championship set to get under way later this week in Peterborough, Ont.
The six-team tournament, hosted for the second straight year by Trent University, kicks off on Thursday and concludes next Sunday at 2 p.m. with the gold-medal final. All nine games will be webcast live by SSN Canada.
Competing for the Monilex trophy at Justin Chiu Stadium will be the defending national champion St. Francis Xavier X-Women (AUS champions), the tourney host Trent Excalibur, as well as the Lethbridge Pronghorns (Canada West champions), Laval Rouge et Or (RSEQ champions), Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions) and McMaster Marauders (OUA silver medallists).
StFX, which captured the second Monilex trophy in school history a year ago thanks to a thrilling 17-12 overtime win over Concordia in the championship match, has been as dominant as ever this season going a perfect 7-0 against Atlantic conference competition, including a 60-0 rout of Acadia in the AUS final. The X-Women have won all 14 AUS banners since women’s rugby made its CIS debut back in 1998.
StFX will compete with Lethbridge and Trent in group A in the preliminary round and is set to open its title defence against the host Excalibur Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Lethbridge will face the loser of the opening-day match-up on Friday and the winner on Saturday.
In group B, Laval and McMaster face off Thursday at 1:30 p.m. Guelph takes on the loser on Friday and the winner on Saturday.
The first-place finishers in groups A and B advance straight to the gold-medal final. The second-place teams will battle for CIS bronze, while the last-place finishers play for fifth position.
Lethbridge captured its sixth consecutive Canada West title last weekend and won three straight Monilex trophies from 2007 to 2009. The Pronghorns finished fourth at last year’s CIS tournament.
Trent had its best season ever this year with a 3-2 conference record followed by an appearance in the OUA quarter-finals.
Laval is back at the CIS championship after a two-year absence thanks to a spectacular 43-27 win over 2010 national finalist Concordia in the Quebec title game.
Guelph is making its 12th CIS tourney appearance – second only to StFX – following a 36-5 victory over McMaster in the OUA final. The Gryphons, who claimed the inaugural Monilex trophy back in 1998, have reached the CIS podium eight times over the years, including third-place finishes each of the past four seasons.
McMaster will compete for CIS gold for only the second time in program history. The Marauders lost 15-10 to Guelph in the inaugural Monilex trophy final in 1998.
Official championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wrugby/index
NOTE: The 2011 CIS individual award winners and all-Canadian teams will be announced on Wednesday... A complete championship preview will follow on Tuesday...
POOLS
Pool A
St. Francis Xavier X-Women (AUS champions: 6-0 regular season / 1-0 playoffs)
Lethbridge Pronghorns (Canada West champions: 4-0 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
Trent Excalibur (Championship hosts: 3-2 regular season / 0-1 playoffs)
Pool B
Laval Rouge et Or (RSEQ champions: 6-0 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions: 5-0 regular season / 3-0 playoffs)
McMaster Marauders (OUA finalists: 5-0 regular season / 2-1 playoffs)
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Nov. 2
18:00 All-Canadian Awards Banquet (Great Hall, Champlain College, Trent University)
Thursday, Nov. 3
10:30 Round-Robin Pool A: StFX vs. Trent (SSN Canada webcast)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Laval vs. McMaster (SSN Canada webcast)
Friday, Nov. 4
10:30 Round-Robin Pool A: Loser Pool A #1 vs. Lethbridge (SSN Canada webcast)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Loser Pool B #1 vs. Guelph (SSN Canada webcast)
Saturday, Nov. 5
10:30 Round-Robin Pool A: Winner Pool A #1 vs. Lethbridge (SSN Canada webcast)
13:30 Round-Robin Pool B: Winner Pool B #1 vs. Guelph (SSN Canada webcast)
Sunday, Nov. 6
10:00 5th place: Third place Pool A vs. third place Pool B (SSN Canada webcast)
12:00 Bronze medal: Second place Pool A vs. second place Pool B (SSN Canada webcast)
14:00 Championship final: First place Pool A vs. first place Pool B (SSN Canada webcast)
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca.
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