OCAA WOMEN'S RUGBY SEMI-FINALS PREVIEW

TORONTO - Four teams. Three medals. This is what's at stake over the next two weekends in Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) women's rugby.

The Humber Hawks and Fleming Knights are well rested after earning a bye directly into the OCAA semi-finals as a result of winning their respect regional championships.

Making the semi-finals the hard way were the St. Lawrence Vikings and Loyalist Lancers, as both teams had to win crossover matches to advance to the OCAA's final four. As a result, three teams from the east region will compete in the medal round.

No matter what happens on Saturday, teams will live to play another day. The semi-final winners will advance to the gold medal match, while the losing teams battle for bronze. The OCAA gold and bronze medal matches will take place at the home of the higher seed Nov. 14-15.

St. Lawrence-Kingston (4-2-0 [1-0], 2nd East) at Humber (5-1-0, 1st West)
Saturday, Nov. 7 - 12 p.m.

The defending OCAA champion Humber Hawks are one victory away from appearing in their fifth consecutive gold medal match.

Three Hawks were among the OCAA's top four in scoring during the regular season. Lauren Congdon's (Mississauga) five tries and 15 converts totaled 55 points; Christina Branch (Oshawa) scored an OCAA-high 10 tries for 50 points; and Cheyenne De Luca (Etobicoke) scored eight tries for 40 points.

St. Lawrence-Kingston returns to the semi-finals for the first time since 2013 as a result of a 39-7 win over Sheridan. Second-year flyhalf Amanda Blair (Trenton) contributed a match-high 14 points by scoring three different ways, with one try, three converts and one penalty kick.

In six regular season matches, second-year wing Michelle Harper (Cobourg) scored six tries while adding four converts for 38 points. The Vikings went to three straight OCAA bronze medal matches between 2011 and 2013, losing all three times.

This is the first meeting between the Hawks and Vikings since 2012.

Loyalist (1-4-1 [1-0], 3rd East) at Fleming (6-0-0, 1st East)
Saturday, Nov. 7 - 6 p.m.

Loyalist has now won two straight "sudden death" matches. The Lancers needed a win in its regular season finale over Algonquin just to earn a post-season berth. They followed this up with a 20-15 road win at Conestoga in the crossovers.

Four different Lancers scored tries, including Morgan Houde-Pearce (Trenton), Shannon Lee (Trenton), Jordan Semark (Shannonville) and Cortney Wright-Mooney (Havelock).

Loyalist is making just its second appearance in five official OCAA post-seasons. Second-year player Brittney Whiting (Trenton) led all Lancers with seven tries during the regular season.

The Fleming Knights are the reigning two-time OCAA bronze medalists, having never claimed gold or silver. A win over Loyalist would guarantee an upgrade for 2015.

Fleming second-year back Kayla Cassibo (Belleville) led all OCAA players with 67 points on four tries, 19 converts and three penalty kicks.

This marks the third meeting between Fleming and Loyalist in 2015. The Knights won both regular season contests by scores of 44-5 and 42-24.

- OCAA -

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