Axewomen open up season with convincing win over UPEI

WOLFVILLE, N.S. - The Acadia Axewomen rugby team opened up the regular season with a convincing 53-0 win over the visiting UPEI Panthers in the second conference game of the opening weekend following StFX's win over Saint Mary's this past Friday evening.

Third year Axewoman Maddie MacKenzie (Peterborough, Ont.) grabbed the Subway Player of the Game honours after scoring three trys and one conversion in Acadia's win.

Laura Klingenberg (Owen Sound, Ont.) was the first to score only six minutes into the opening half. Second year wing Kelsey Brumm (Dartmouth, N.S.) responded with two trys at the 11 minute and 16 minute marks. Jenny Matheson (Halifax, N.S.) and Maddie MacKenzie added the conversions to pull the Axewomen out to a 19-0 lead 20 minutes into the first half.

Tamara Dondi (Caledon, Ont.) added a try at the 25 minute mark - her first of two trys on the day - along with the conversion by Matheson to give Acadia a commanding 26-0 lead. MacKenzie added her first of a three-try performance and former Acadia assistant coach and Lethbridge Pronghorn Janice Cougle (Lethbridge, Alta.) capped the scoring in the first half, giving Acadia a 36-0 lead.

The Panthers tightened the defensive game, allowing Acadia to score only 17 points in the second half of play. MacKenzie added two more trys at the 41 minute and 58 minute marks, while teammate Dondi split MacKenzie's trys with her second of the day. Matheson added the conversion on the Dondi try. Matheson was good for three conversions.

"We played a pretty good game today. Our first halves have been significantly stronger than our second halves", pointed out Acadia head coach Matt Durant. "Our veterans stepped up today and played well and we have a lot of players who were kept off the scoresheet but played well. We have a lot of positives things to build on and as the season progresses we will get a little bit better. We played well defensively and UPEI is always a good team fundamentally with tackly and rucking. We need to find a way to keep up our intensity for 80 minutes."

The Axewomen travel to Saint Mary's next Saturday afternoon, while the Panthers host the CIS champion StFX X-Women in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Scoring Summary:

First Half:

6 min. – ACA – Laura Kingenberg Try / No conversion (5-0)

11 min. – ACA – Kelsey Brumm Try / Conversion Jenny Matheson (12-0)

16 min. – ACA – Kelsey Brumm Try / Conversion by Maddie MacKenzie (19-0)

20 min. – ACA – Tamara Dondi Try / Conversion by Jenny Matheson (26-0)

25 min. - ACA – Maddie MacKenzie Try / No conversion (31-0)

36 min. - ACA – Janice Cougle Try / No conversion (36-0)

Second Half:

41 min. – ACA – Maddie MacKenzie Try / No conversion (41-0)

55 min. – ACA – Tamara Dondi Try / Conversion Jenny Matheson (48-0)

58 min. – ACA – Maddie MacKenzie / No conversion (53-0)