CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – A perfect two-for-two is what the Charlottetown Rugby Football Club (CRFC) shoots for today when it hosts Enfield in the Rugby Nova Scotia Tier A senior women’s championship final in Charlottetown.
CRFC (9-0) went undefeated in last year’s inaugural campaign en route to its first title and is on course for a repeat of both feats today at Co-op Field. Game time is 4 p.m., and Alicia MacDonald said a victory would prove CRFC isn’t a one-hit wonder.
“A win would be huge for P.E.I. rugby. It would show that we are able to maintain (our success). It wasn’t just a lucky thing,” MacDonald said before a recent practice in Charlottetown.
Luck had little to do with CRFC’s second season.
The squad rolled through the Nova Scotia league, going 8-0 and outscoring opponents 376-117. In Monday’s semifinal, the Island team thumped Halifax RFC 60-19 on three tries each by Terissa Lynch and Alysha Corrigan and singles from Niki Triantafillou, Tara Campbell, Holly Hartlen, Sidney Corrigan, Tori Hogen, Emily Keen and Rebecca Chapman.
The numbers mean CRFC has gone 19-0 in its first two seasons and MacDonald heaps much of this year’s consistency on the CRFC’s Tier B squad which just finished up its inaugural campaign.
“I think it’s because we had our division two team to pull off of,” MacDonald said.
The Tier B team won the division title over the Windsor Hants County Machine via forfeit. CRFC Tier B reached the final after 27-24 semifinal win over the Truro Saints Wednesday in Charlottetown.
Maggie Grimmer had two tries, including the game-winner late in the game, while Bella Walsh, Amy Andrews and Kalie MacKinnon touched down the other CRFC scores.
CRFC Tier A won’t have it so easy and MacDonald knows Enfield (4-5) isn’t an easy out, despite losing 46-15 to CRFC in late June and 60-19 in late July.
“Last time we played, they played a very forward-heavy team. They’re a gritty team, similar to us,” said MacDonald. “We’re going to try to stick to the system and play as a team.”
Also on tap today at Co-op is a P.E.I. Mudmen (4-0) division two game versus Caledonia (2-3-1), which kicks off at 6 p.m., and the Mudmen Old Boys squad facing Baddeck at 2:30 p.m.
