The Holy Trinity Academy Knights got a kick out of beating their cross-town rivals in girls rugby action last week.
The Knights were able to boot their way out of danger to outlast the Foothills Falcons 19-5 in a Big Sky High School Girls Rugby Union game May 2.
“We have taught the girls when they should be kicking and that has helped to give ourselves some breathing room,” said Knights coach Jordan Smith. “We were able to do that a couple of times tonight.”
The first half of the game was virtually played at midfield as the two rivals tried to establish their turf on the slippery field.
The Knights got on the scoreboard first when Ellen McKeel took a pitch from Melissa Bass and scampered in for a 20-yard try on the last play of the first half.
“Missy made a really good pass,” McKeel said. “I was just able to find a hole and I ran it in. The game was all in the middle in the first half, so to score right near the end gave us a lot of confidence.”
The Knights might have had the confidence, but Foothills had the momentum for the opening 15 minutes of the second half.
The Falcons practically set up camp near the Knights’ try-line as they tried to push the ball in for a score.
“They threatened us quite a bit at the start of the second half,” Smith said. “I thought Foothills was going to score a couple of times, but our girls fought hard to keep them out.”
The Falcons were finally able to push the ball across the try-line when Morgan Schultz shoveled the ball to Cassidy Barnert who wrestled her way through three Knights for the try to tie the game at 5-5. Foothills continued to put on the pressure until the Knights got some relief from the right foot of HTA’s Jacquie Fraser.
Fraser scooped up a loose ball deep in the Knights’ territory and then punted the ball to about midfield. A few minutes later Bass worked her way into the try zone and then successfully made the convert.
The game ended similar to the first half with the Knights scoring on the final play.
The final try came when Bass punted from approximately midfield and then chased after the ball. When the speedy Bass got to the ball she kicked into the try zone and pounced on the ball prior to it going out the end to make the final 19-5.
Falcons captain Morgan Schultz said Foothills will learn from the loss and hopes to meet the Knights in the playoffs.
“The outcome wasn’t good but it was a good effort and a good wake-up call for us and something to build on,” Schultz said. “They (HTA) have a lot of experienced players and I think they got to us a bit, but we will meet them again and we will be stronger.”
Schultz said falling behind on the final try of the first half was disappointing, but not necessarily defeating.
“It happens, but I thought it made us work harder,” Schultz said. “We came together as a team. I think it showed. We played disciplined the whole game.”
She said the Knights were able to take advantage of their kicking and speed.
“We just have to bring it more the next time we play them and we will,” she said.
Falcons coach Sophie Martin said she felt her team dominated the second half despite the Knights scoring two tries.
“I thought we played with a lot of discipline,” Martin said. “I’m proud of how are girls kept their cool. It’s not necessarily about the score it is about the process.”
The two teams are tied in the Big Sky Rugby Union with 2-1 records.
Both HTA and the Comp are on the road this week. The Knights will take on the Chestermere Lakers on May 10. The Falcons will travel to Cochrane to play the Bow Valley Bobcats, also on May 10. The Falcons and Knights renewed acquaintances at the Clearwater Cup. The tournament, hosted by the Knights at the Calgary Rugby Union (CRU) on May 4-5, featured seven girls teams.
The Knights lost to Raymond and beat Bowness to advance to the consolation final, while the Falcons lost 17-0 to St. Mary’s and beat Bishop O’Byrne 5-0 to set up another meeting with HTA. In the consolation final, the Knights reigned supreme again with a 15-5 victory.
Weather wrecked havoc on the tournament and delayed the boys division from action on May 5. The HTA boys and Bowness Trojans advanced to the final which is rescheduled for May 11 at the CRU.
