SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — There was no lack of excitement as the girls’ final in the 23rd annual David Voye Memorial rugby tournament wound down.
The Charlottetown Rural Raiders and North Nova Educational Centre from New Glasgow, N.S., clashed in a back-and-forth match that treated fans of both teams to a roller-coaster ride.
The Raiders’ Maddy Cogswell caught a ball and ran it in from about 20 metres out to score a try that tied the game 19-19 with approximately two minutes remaining. Maddy Power then successfully kicked the two-point convert and Rural held on for a 21-19 come-from-behind victory.
“They scored down in the corner with I’d say about eight minutes left to take a five-point lead,” said Raiders head coach Ryan Lloyd. “It wasn’t looking good for our girls, but they rallied coming on the end.”
North Nova, however, missed an opportunity to go up by seven points when the attempted convert kick was unsuccessful from a sharp angle.
Julia Freeburn scored other two trys for the Raiders while Mia Fradsham converted both.
“In a game like that, it’s important to not get too down on yourself,” said the 18-year-old Freeburn, who plays the 8-Man position. “It’s easy if the other team scores you can get down thinking the game is over.
“We didn’t let it get us down and came back.”
Lloyd said winning the tournament, which honours a former teacher and a driving force behind the Three Oaks rugby program, was exciting.
“It’s been a long time since Charlottetown Rural has come home with a Voye tournament and there are always tough teams,” said Lloyd. “We played North Nova, we played Avon View, Three Oaks was on the other side and they are always tough.
“We didn’t come here really expecting to be in the position we were in and kind of took it one game at a game. We are really excited about the result for sure. The girls proved a lot on the weekend.”
Click here for feature story on Three Oaks boys' coach James Voye:
Record
The Raiders finished 4-0 (won-lost) in the 11-team girls' field, including a 30-12 semifinal win over Avon View on Saturday morning. The other semifinal had North Nova shutting out the Three Oaks Axewomen 22-0.
“I actually refereed Avon View (Friday) and their two scores were lopsided,” said Lloyd. “I just told the girls, Take it one play at a time, It’s your team against their team and you are playing the same sport. They are not five years older than you.’
“It’s high school students playing high school students. They kind of took that attitude into the game, didn’t let it get into their heads and they played well.”
Click here for story on Friday's games:
Freeburn, a Grade 12 student, said it “means a lot” to win the championship banner, especially after the team has put in a lot of hard work this season.
“We’ve been trying to up our attendance to make sure every practice we have enough girls to do what we want to do,” said Freeburn, who will be trying out in August for the Canadian under-18 team that will be going to San Diego in December.
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Scores
Girls’ scores at David Voye Memorial rugby tournament:
Saturday
Final
Charlottetown Rural 21 North Nova 19
Semifinals
Charlottetown Rural 30 Avon View 12
North Nova 22 Three Oaks 0
Cross-Overs
CEC 15 Westisle 5
Colonel Gray 32 Glace Bay 0
Hants East 15 Bluefield 5
Halifax West 7 Westisle 0
Friday
Charlottetown Rural 61 Hants East 22
Avon View 64 Colonel Gray 0
CEC 12 Halifax West 10
Charlottetown Rural 34 Glace Bay 12
North Nova 52 Westisle 0
Three Oaks 31 CEC 5
Avon View 47 Bluefield 0
Hants East 15 Glace Bay 12
Three Oaks 19 Halifax West 0
Tuesday
Bluefield 36 Colonel Gray 22
