X-Women defeat Huskies 48-7

(HALIFAX, N.S.) – The St. Francis Xavier X-Women defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies 48-7 in AUS rugby action on Friday night at Huskies Stadium in Halifax.

It was Senior Night for the Huskies, as they honoured four graduating players who played their final regular season home game at Saint Mary's: lock Claire Avery (Hammonds Plains, NS), prop Neelie Fliegel-Doucet (Sydney, NS), fullback Deana Symes (Lower Sackville, NS) and centre Xenia Theoharopoulos (Halifax, NS).

The X-Women would open the scoring as a kick was recovered by fullback Katie Douglas (Charlottetown, PEI) who dove in for a try. Centre Emily Dodge (Fall River, NS) converted to give the visitors a 7-0 lead, 10 minutes into the action.

The Huskies and X-Women battled for possession, with both teams making some nice drives down the pitch, but neither able to score until the 26 minutes mark, when X-Women 2nd Row Akwaima Akpan (Halifax, NS) stripped a Huskies player and sprinted 50+ yards for the try, to put StFX ahead 12-0.

A familiar face would score the next try for the X-Women, as former Huskies prop Brianna Willis (Lake Loon, NS) was able to plunge across the touchline from a close range for the try, with Dodge hitting the conversion to extend their lead to 19-0.

STFX would add on to the lead just before halftime, with Katie Douglas making a great run for her second try of the day, with another Dodge conversion putting the visitors up 26-0 heading into the half.

It was more of the same in the second half, as the X-Women scored two early tries from Katherine Culligan (Halifax, NS) and Brianna Willis with her second.

The Huskies were able to get on the scoreboard in the 58th minute, as after a quality run from prop Devyn Di Nardo (Toronto, ON), prop Meagan Dunn (Halifax, NS) plunged it in for a try, with Lauren Maye (Lower Sackville, NS) hitting the conversion to cut the lead to 38-7.

The X-Women would add on two more tries by Katie Murphy (Millville, PEI) and the second of the night from Katherine Culligan, and were able to win the match by a final score of 48-7.

Katie Douglas was named Player of the Game for the X-Women, while Meagan Dunn was named Player of the Game for the Huskies.

The X-Women win improves their record to 4-0-1 on the season. They'll play an exhibition game in Quebec vs. Laval Rouge-et-Or this Monday, before hosting the UPEI Panthers at home for their regular season finale, Friday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. in Antigonish, NS.

The Huskies loss drops their record to 0-5 on the campaign. They'll finish the season on the road against the Acadia Axewomen, Saturday, Oct. 14 at 2 p.m. in Wolfville, NS.

SCORING SUMMARY:
SMU 0-7: 7
ACA 26-22: 48

First half:
STFX Katie Douglas try (Emily Dodge convert) 10th minute
STFX Akwaima Akpan try 26th minute
STFX Brianna Willis try (Emily Dodge convert) 32nd minute
STFX Katie Douglas try (Emily Dodge convert) 36th minute

Second Half:
STFX Katherine Culligan try 42nd minute
STFX Brianna Willis try (Emily Dodge convert) 49th minute
SMU Meagan Dunn try (Lauren Maye convert) 58th minute
STFX Katie Murphy try 69th minute
STFX Katherine Culligan try 74th minute

Players of the Game:
SMU: Meagan Dunn (Halifax, NS)
STFX: Katie Douglas (Charlottetown, PEI)

Legend:
Try: 5 points
Penalty goal: 3 points
Convert: 2 points

Recap courtesy Allan April / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics