ICRC Dev. XV 77 - Toronto Scottish II 0
28 / 08 / 04
League

The inaugural season for the Irish Women came to an end this past weekend when the Irish 2^nd XV faced their arch rivals the Toronto Scottish 2 in the TRU 2nds Division Final.  The Irish cemented their status as league champions with an absolutely dominating performance as they destroyed the Scottish 2 by a score of 77 – 0.  The result marks the end of a very successful season for the Irish Women’s program and paves the way for a very promising 2005 season.

The Irish started the game on fire and blitzed the Scottish defence with a overwhelming show of pace and support play as Karen Dillaine scored in the first minute of the game and then Jackie Ritchie, Jane Segal, Kristin Doherty and Jess Panzer all added trys by the time the game was 15 minutes old for a 29-0 lead.  The siege continued as Dillaine and Ritchie added another try each, and Kristin Konieczny added one more before halftime to bring the score to 46 – 0.  The halftime break did not ease the onslaught as Val Pospodinis touched down 2 minutes into the second half with 2 Irish players in the sin bin for some questionable offences.  With the floodgates wide open, the Irish Women continued to score as Lisa Wilkinson ran in a hat trick of trys and Ritchie finished off her excellent play with a third try.  Cheryl Morris added 6 conversions to round out the scoring and the Irish Women walked off the pitch as deserving champions.

“The players were determined to make a statement today and lift the spirits of the club after the 1^st XV’s loss last weekend.  I think they pretty much accomplished that” commented head coach Rodin “Koko” Lozada.  “The players should enjoy this moment because we had one of those rare days where everything fell into place and we could do no wrong.”

The Irish 2^nd XV started the season slowly losing two of their first three games.  As the season progressed the players began to gel and the talent began to blossom.  The season finished with eight consecutive wins and a league championship and a play-off championship were collected along the way.

The historic first season of the Irish Canadian Rugby Club Women has finished with the players, coaches and administrators thrilled about the success and growth the club has shown in such a short period of time.  The future looks bright as there is a very young nucleus of players who are bursting with talent and potential.  The 2005 season cannot come soon enough.