SENECA 14, SHERIDAN 5

OAKVILLE, Ont. - While the Sheridan Bruins women's rugby team (1-1 OCAA) controlled much of the first half of their Homecoming game against Seneca, they spent an equal amount of time on their heels in the second half and ended up on the wrong end of a 14-5 decision.

"The first half was really, really good. We were on offence a lot and we made our hits, had some good series and some good rucks," Sheridan assistant coach Tamara Dixon said. "We had some trouble on our lineouts, so we need to work on that. When it came to the second half, we were on defence for a long stretch. We played well defensively, but that's also something we need to work on, because we need to get the ball back and we need to go back on offence."

While Sheridan was able to maintain possession of the ball throughout most of the first half, it wasn't until the final few moments before the interval that it finally paid off.

After electing to take a penalty kick to try and put points on the board after a Seneca infraction, the Double-Blue would end up trading up in points for the opening try of the game.

Meghan Sowsun's attempt at goal clanged off the post, but was astutely picked up by Terri-Lynn Burns and the ball was worked to Shannon Paterson, who was able to plunge in for the score.

Though the conversion was unsuccessful, Sheridan led 5-0 at the break.

In the second half, Seneca put immediate and consistent pressure on the home side and though the Lady Bruins were able to repel them for nearly 20 minutes - much of which was under the shadow of their goal posts - they ultimately found a seam in the Sheridan backline and punched it in to take a 7-5 lead.

Seneca tacked on another converted try later in the half to cement the outcome.

It's a short week for the Lady Bruins, as they have just four days before their next contest - the road leg of a home-and-home set with Conestoga on Oct. 3.

Dixon says that while the team has some elements that need some refinement, the coaching staff is pleased with the current trajectory of their club.

"We've had some trouble losing the ball in rucks and causing a lot of turnovers, so we need to work on solidifying the ball in contact, keeping the ball and then moving forward from there," she said. "A lot of positive things happened today, we have some things that we're going to work on and we're going to go from there."

Source: Sheridan College