CO-CHAMPIONS DECLARED IN OCAA WOMEN'S RUGBY

NEPEAN, Ont. - The women's rugby gold medal match between the Algonquin Thunder and Humber Hawks will go down as one of the most memorable matches in the short history of the sport in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA).

The scoreboard showed Algonquin winning 16-13. But this is only part of the story.

Algonquin took the initial lead in the match courtesy of a Jenna Crothers (Belleville) penalty kick. Humber stormed right back to take a 5-3 lead on a try by Lucille Foss (Pembroke).

The see-saw affair continued as Algonquin responded on OCAA player of the year Danika McDermott's (Ottawa) first of two tries in the match. Lindsey Bradbury (Utopia) tied the score with a penalty kick as the first half ended in an 8-8 deadlock.

The exchange of points in the first half did not continue in the second, as the score remained tied at 8-8 through regulation time. Under section 6.3 of the OCAA league sport rules for men's and women's rugby, if overtime is required at the Championships, one (1) ten (10) minute overtime period will be used to determine the winner. If the game is still tied, penalty kicks will be used to determine the winner of the match.

The head referee did not follow OCAA protocol. After the 10 minute overtime period (with Humber leading 13-8 on a try by Stephanie Valente of Maple), the referee instructed the teams to play a second 10 minute overtime. This gave Algonquin an opportunity to tie the score at 13-13 on McDermott's second try. Following the second overtime, the referee then instructed the teams to play a sudden death overtime period. Algonquin was awarded the match after a successful penalty kick by Courtney Mastine (Pembroke).

UPDATE: Following an official protest of the match result and subsequent appeal process, the OCAA Executive Committee has determined that the 8-8 score following the end of regulation time will stand as final. Both Algonquin and Humber have been named co-champions of OCAA women's rugby for 2012-13.

- OCAA -

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