The Brock Badgers women’s rugby team earned a commanding 58-15 win in Peterborough against Trent University, scoring 10 tries in the contest, to move ahead of the Excalibur for fifth place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) standings.
Hannah Tonet, the 2023 OUA Second-Team All-Star, led all players with 15 points coming from three tries, all of which were scored in the opening half.
The Badgers wasted no time getting on the board in the first, as Laura Brown scored the game’s first points less than two minutes in, bullying her way through the Excalibur defenders for the score. Paige DeNeve, the 2023 OUA Women’s Rugby Player of the Year, followed the try by converting her first of four successful kicks to take the early 7-0 lead.
Four minutes later, the Badgers showed another element of their dynamic offence, courtesy of fellow 2023 OUA Second-Team All-Star Abigail Wade, using her speed to race down the sideline for the try and extend the Brock lead to 12.
After Tonet made it a 17-point game, Jordan Smith scored her first of two tries in the game, finding the ball in the scrum and forcing her way around the defenders and into the try zone.
With the score 22-0, the Badgers kept their foot on the gas, displaying a strong and unified press forcing the Excalibur to turn the ball over near their own try zone. The Trent turnover was proven to be costly as it led to Tonet being pushed in by her teammates for her second score of the half.
Tonet wasn’t done though, as the Kinesiology major added her third try of the half after being pushed in for the score by her teammates for a second time, showcasing Brock’s size and strength to power their way into the try zone. Jordyn Pitt followed Tonet’s score with another try, Brock’s seventh of the half, as the Badgers were cruising into halftime with a 41-0 lead.
In the second half, a trio of tries by DeNeve, Smith and Erika Bagshaw grew Brock’s lead to 58-0, as Brock’s 58 points were the most points the Badgers have scored in a game this season. DeNeve finished the game scoring 13 points from one try and four kicks.
Defensively, the Badgers — who came into the game allowing 42.6 points a game — limited the Excalibur to 15 points, all of which were scored in the second half with Brock having a 58-point lead.
The Badgers (2-2) will be looking to build upon their strong defensive play versus Trent, when they visit the Waterloo Warriors (1-3) next weekend, a team they beat each of the last two seasons, before concluding their regular season at home on Oct. 5 against the Western Mustangs (3-1).
For more information on the Badgers women’s rugby team, head to gobadgers.ca.
