CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW: Women’s rugby set for U SPORTS National Championship in Victoria

The Gee-Gees women's rugby team open their quest for their second-ever U SPORTS National Championship against the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers on Wednesday evening.

The quarterfinal match will be the third of the 2022 U SPORTS National Championship hosted by the University of Victoria. Kickoff is at 5:00 p.m. local time (8:00 p.m. ET) at Centennial Stadium – a 5,000 seat natural grass ground. The match can be streamed for free in English on CBC Sports digital platforms (CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem and CBC Sports App) and in French on USPORTS.ca.

Watch parties for all Gee-Gees games during the tournament will be held at Father & Sons. Directly adjacent to the University of Ottawa campus, the pub and restaurant is located at the corner of King Edward Ave. and Osgoode St.

Ottawa enters the National Championship having finished the regular season with a 5-1 record, good for second in the RSEQ. They defeated their crosstown rivals from Carleton 37-10 in the semi-final to secure their spot at the championship, before falling to Laval in the RSEQ title game.

A trident of Claire Gallagher, Ketsia Kamba and Mercedes Cole pace the Gee-Gees offensively. Gallagher, the fourth-year team captain from Caledon, Ont., led the team in scoring with a career-high 66 points (three tries, 24 converts, one penalty). Kamba and Cole each notched eight tries, with Cole earning conference Rookie of the Year honours for her efforts.

Georgia Stewart, who returned for a fifth year, is the lone Gee-Gee remaining on the roster from their National Championship triumph in 2017. Stewart was named to the RSEQ First All-Star Team, along with Kamba, Gallagher, Cole and Sarah White. 

As for the Panthers, 2022 has been a banner year for the program. StFX has traditionally dominated the Atlantic conference, but UPEI captured their first AUS championship this season, defeating Acadia 33-12 in the final. The team went 4-2 during the regular season, defeating the X-Women en route to the championship game. 

The Panthers are led by conference MVP Brinten Comeau. Comeau was tied for the AUS lead in tries with eight in six regular season games. Frances MacWilliams led UPEI in scoring with 60 total points (two tries, 22 converts, two penalties). MacWilliams was second in the conference in scoring, two points behind Sara Grant of Acadia.

The Gee-Gees have won their quarterfinal matchup in each of their last seven appearances at Nationals, and have medalled at the last six.

The winner of the Ottawa-UPEI match faces the winner of the Queen's-Victoria quarterfinal on Friday, Nov. 4. The other side of the bracket features Acadia, Laval, UBC and Guelph.