Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
The reigning KASSAA girls rugby champion NDSS Golden Hawks were dethroned by the La Salle Black Knights 19-7 in a tightly contested match at Kingston’s Nixon Field on Wednesday afternoon.
The match hung in the balanced until the final 10 minutes, when La Salle found their opening and punched through with the go ahead try. They’d add another just a few minutes later when the Black Knights managed to break free from a cluster of defenders at half and go on long run the length of the field for a soul-deflating try.
Prior to that long run, NDSS’ defense had done a great job of limiting the Black Knights’ powerful offense.
Napanee opened the game by spending almost the entire first half on defense, bending but not breaking until the final minutes when La Salle found a way to dive across the try line. With just three minutes to go before half, the Hawks managed to return the ball to within 20 yards of a try before a costly knock-on ended their rally.
NDSS’ defense stood tall for the first half of the game. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
“We got on our back right away,” said Hawks head coach Sean Dunleavy. “They pinned us deep and pressured. I think we played defense for a 26 minute stretch. That’s admirable but you never want to play defense for that long.”
Napanee came out of the break rejuvenated, and managed to pick up where they left off in the final minutes of the first half. They built a sustained rally and after drawing a penalty on the 10 yard line, they were able to shuffle the ball to Maddy Marlow who dove through a wall of Black Knight defenders and into the try zone. She picked up two more points with a successful convert to knot the score at 7-7.
NDSS’ Jasmina Dennis looks to get around the La Salle defense. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
Napanee came within 30 yards of taking the lead, but a knock-on ended their run. La Salle made good use of the turn over, working their way up the field. On an ensuing lineout just 20 yards from the try line, La Salle took control and rumbled through the NDSS defense to take the 14-7 lead. They added another shortly after to put the game out of reach in the final minutes.
“For us to go down 19-7 and the last one was late in the game, I’m massively proud of their physical effort,” said Dunleavy. “La Salle’s style of play is to do a lot of bashing. Pick and go and that physical style of rugby. We try to move it around when we carry so it was a good clash of styles. They had our number and they were able to get that one at the end that I think did us in.”
While not the finish they were looking for, Dunleavy said the Hawks took some pride in being the only team to reach the finals for a third straight year.
“Our goal is get to championship games and win those, but we’re also developing players and developing a passion for the game,” said Dunleavy. “To me it’s one game, it would have felt good for the girls and the program to win, that’s a big motivator for them. But we had 18-20 new girls come in this year and they all love the game and there’s a bunch of them that are going to go off and play at college and university next year.”
“I’m pretty proud of the consistency,” he added. “Our numbers have grown and lots of girls are going to play club rugby this summer and that helps our program.”
NDSS’ Cailyn Barton runs right into the La Salle defense. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
He said the rise is numbers was a welcome sight as just a few seasons ago it looked like the program could be in trouble. He says those added numbers, mixed with several of players stepping up their game this year allowed them to reach the finals despite losing some key players from their championship team of 2017.
“Hailey Lambert and Charlotte Elliott have been the mainstays with Erika (Barton) moving on,” said Dunleavy. “They’ve been great, they played their hearts out. It’s been nice to see the surge of some of the others. Maddy (Marlow) really stepped up this year and became a team leader and a slot kicker. Jasmina (Dennis) an electric runner. Cailyn Barton is just a grinder and a soldier. Katie Hearns has really stepped up and became an impact player. A lot of girls, it just clicked for them.”
While the loss ended the season for much of the team, junior members of the varsity team will have a chance to take part in a tournament hosted by Frontenac next week. Dunleavy says he hopes to have a full-on junior program next year that will compete in a KASSAA season.