RECAP: #4 women’s rugby clinches home playoff game with win over the Ravens

The Gee-Gees women's rugby team will have at least one more home game thanks to a convincing 54-3 win over the Carleton Ravens Friday evening in front of a packed Matt Anthony Field crowd.

Ottawa moved to 5-0 with the victory, guaranteeing they will finish no worse than second in the RSEQ and securing themselves a home playoff game.

"I don't remember the last time we put a full 80 minutes into the game with all 25 players contributing," raved Gee-Gees head coach Jen Boyd. "It was the most well-rounded performance we've had in a really long time. I'm so proud of the girls." 

As they have throughout the season, the Ottawa scored early and often and spread the wealth around. Ten different Gee-Gees made their way onto the scoresheet.

Talia Hennessy scored a pair of tries, while Quynh-Ni Au, Ketsia Kamba, Sophie McDonald, Deborah Oyetoran, Leigha Stiles and Sarah White also found the try zone. Aurora Bowie, Claire Gallagher and Taelor Hendrick combined to boot seven converts. 

The lone scoring for Carleton came via a Vanessa Chiappetta penalty kick.

The game was played under the lights at Matt Anthony Field on a chilly Friday evening. This presented the first cold weather game for the team this season, and the coaching staff welcomed the adversity.

"We love this, we've been talking about October for the past week," said Boyd. "We recruit kids who want to play in the cold. If you want to win a National Championship, you have to win it in November, so we were ready."

Kamba was named the team's game MVP and now has seven tries on the season, one behind Mercedes Cole for the team lead. Gallagher continues to pace the team in scoring with 54 points (two tries, 22 converts).

Ottawa now gears up for their biggest test yet – the equally undefeated Laval Rouge & Or. First place in the conference (the most likely the right to host the conference championship game) will be on the line at Stade TELUS in Quebec City on Saturday, Oct. 8. Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m.

Regardless of the outcome, the Gee-Gees will host a playoff game at Matt Anthony Field the weekend of Oct. 15. Once confirmed, tickets for the game will go on sale at tickets.geegees.ca.