STORY BY KYLE CALOREN
PHOTOS BY KYLE CALOREN
Despite back-to-back losses Saturday morning at Sheridan’s Homecoming, the men’s and women’s varsity rugby teams were not disappointed, and neither were the fans.
The Lady Bruins rugby team (1-1 OCAA), came out aggressive, and kept the pressure on until they scored a try near the end off the first half after a Seneca penalty. The Bruins goal kick bounced of the post and was quickly picked up by Terri-Lyn Burns, who passed it to Shannon Paterson for the score. Unfortunately they could not convert, leaving the score 5-0 Sheridan at the break.
After the break Seneca came out hard and had the Double-Blue defending for the rest of the game, and despite their valiant efforts, Seneca managed to convert on two tries to seal the game, leaving the final score 14-5.
“It was a messy game for both teams, but all together it was really positive, we worked really hard and played well on defence, but we just couldn’t score,” said Terri-Lyn Burns, who played flanker and is a third-year Athletic Therapy student at the Davis Campus.
“It’s the start of the season, so we’re still working out the bugs, we just need a little more commitment, and to get everyone working together.”
The Sheridan Bruins men’s rugby team (1-1 OCAA), suffered a similar outcome against the Georgian Grizzlies, but despite the loss it was their best game yet.
“Our team played the best game that Sheridan rugby has ever played. Everybody came to play, and we played a very good team, and we’re very proud,” head coach Carlos Moniz said.
It was a close first half, with Georgian pulling ahead 7-0 on a converted try before the break.
The Bruins scored a try in the second half, but could not convert, bringing the score to 7-5. Georgian countered with another try and conversion to end the game, bringing the final score to 14-5.
“Our team performed really well. All our guys are very committed on defence and willing to stand in front of anyone, whether it’s the smallest guy on our team going up against their biggest guy, our guys are hard as can be, and I’m really proud of them,” said Brett King, who is normally the team captain, but wore No. 20 in this particular game
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“We still have a bit of work to do offensively, but we’ve got Monday Tuesday Wednesday to practice. We play Conestoga on Thursday, and I’m more than confident that we’ll come out with a victory.”
Both the men’s and women’s rugby teams will face off against Conestoga in back-to-back away games starting Oct. 3rd.