Can es win COS SA junior girls rugby title
Do you believe in miracles? The Holy Cross Hurricanes junior girls rugby team does after as dramatic a finish as is possible in their COSSA AA championship game at Holy Cross Secondary School on Thursday.
Trailing the Bayside She Devils 10-7 with less than 30 seconds left and the Quinte school containing the ball near midfield, all looked lost.
Then Rachael King knocked the ball loose out of a ruck, Kathleen Smith picked it up and pitched it wide to Jayda Maybee whos printed more than 40 yards to reach the end zone as the whistle ended the game with the Hurricanes up 12-10.
It was the second straight COS SA title and undefeated season for the Holy Cross juniors.
“You know time is running down and you think you’re going to need a miracle to win this game because it was such a hard game,” said Jake Fowler, who coaches the Hurricanes with Brian Greer. “Three of our leaders got the job done. If Rachael doesn’t steal that ball, we lose the game. That was huge.
“That’s what is incredible especially in junior sports. When things get hard you see teams just shut down so it was great they had that perseverance and tenacity to keep going.”
“I had no idea it was that close to the end,” Maybee said. “It was a good way to win.
“It was intense ,” she said .“Once I got the ball all I could think of was putting it out there for the team and making sure we got the job done. It’s always commitment, hard work and discipline to win. That’s what we do here at Holy Cross.”
Bayside took the lead with just two minutes to play. The game was scoreless at half-time thanks to a goal-line stand by the Hurricanes in the dying seconds of the half. Bayside went ahead 5-0 as Kaylea Lindsay scored her first of two tries as a relentless press eventually paid off. They missed the convert.
King scored to tie it on the Hurricanes’ very next possession and Lexi McKnight connected on the convert which proved to be the difference. Bay side looked to be on their way to victory when Lindsay scored her second try.
“It was tough but that’s the way sports go ,” said Bay side coach Scott De war .“It will bea learning lesson hopefully these kids take forward with them and they grow and get better from it. It was a little bit of in experience on our part and experience on their part and athleticism. They’ re a very athletic team from one to 15. You can’t take that away from them.
“Our girls were really raw coming in. We didn’ t have a lot of Grade 10s coming in. We were pretty green. To see them get this far is pretty impressive,” Dewar said.
That’ s not unlike the Hurricanes since many of the key players from last year graduated to senior.
“This was a totally different group of girls,” Fowler said. “You didn’t know how the season was going to go because there were so many new players. They showed their heart and determination.”
The Hurricanes reached the final with a 31-5 win over St. Paul in the morning semifinal while Bay side blitzed Cobourg’s St. Mary Thunder 29-0. Maybee led Holy Cross with four tries while King added one and McKnight kicked three converts. St. Mary beat St. Paul 19-10 in the bronze medal game.