Axewomen pull off a 22-5 win in hard fought game against Panthers

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Axewomen rugby team pulled off a 22-5 win over the UPEI Panthers to remain undefeated after two regular season games. On the other hand, the Panthers come off a big win over the StFX X-Women last weekend to sample their first loss of the season.

A game that was tied 5-5 at the half, opened up in the Axewomen's favour in the closing minutes of the second half.

First year Axewoman Kenzie Cecchetto opened the game at the one minute mark to give Acadia an early 5-0 lead after a great pass by Laura Pfleiderer that gave Cecchetto the lane to score.

The Panthers rebounded 38 minutes later when Maddy Clements tied the game at five. Brinten Comeau bolted down the far sidelines and before being hauled down by Monique Coffey, Comeau passed it off the Clements for the easy try.

Clements' try would be the last time the Panthers would score in the match.

Sixteen minutes in to the second half, Emilie Merilainen pushed the Axewomen lead to 10-5 on a short run to the corner.

Rookie Juliette Matsukubo scored her first try of her AUS career at the 75^th minute to give Acadia a comfortable lead heading into the closing minutes. Kenzie Cecchetto added her second try of the game on the 80^th minute that included a Sarah Grant try, to give Acadia a convincing, yet hard fought 22-5 win.

"Acadia did a good job with their homework and came prepared and did a good job in taking away our leg drive. I thought we did a decent job plugging the middle. The women we worried about hurting us didn't, but Acadia had some other women for support. Credit to Acadia, they played really well today. There are some positives we can take away. We had some good possession and we had some opportunities. With 10 minutes left, we were still in the game," said UPEI head coach James Voye.

Senior Axewoman Laura Pfleiderer was named the Subway Player of the Game, while Briten Comeau was named the UPEI Player of the Game.

Pfleiderer was asked what first comes to mind about today's game.

"Physical. It was really tough. It was about who was going to pull through today. They had a really great game against StFX. We had to come out hard to get into that second layer of attack and break it down, shut it down right away," noted Pfleiderer.

The Axewomen travel to StFX next Saturday, while the Panthers travel to Saint Mary's on Saturday. Both games scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on AUStv.ca