After a season brimming with frustration, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks rugby teamsโ year of redemption has hit an immediate roadblock.
With neither team winning a single game last year, the 2011 season openers on Sunday werenโt much to get excited about, as the menโs team dropped a 61-5 decision to Western and the women dropped their home opener by the worst score in team history; a 125-0 thrashing to the number-two nationally-ranked Guelph Gryphons.
But for menโs coach, Rob McQueen and womenโs boss Michelle Joslin, thereโs reason for optimism.
โI think the girls all understand they [Guelph] are a great team ….Theyโre a nationally-ranked team so obviously itโs a hard loss,โ said womenโs rugby co-coach Michelle Joslin. โWe looked a lot better than we did last season.โ
There were diamond performances lost in the rough.
โ[Fourth-year flanker] Samantha Schmalz stepped it up,โ said Joslin. โShe had a fantastic game; she was all over the field.โ
For a program just finding its legs, itโs the teamโs veterans that need to provide the comforting presence when things get rough and thatโs exactly what the squadโs vets did.
โBriana Wilson, Brittany Maksymyk and Taryn Caley all … stepped it up. Their energy and their experience from playing on the team last year and their positive attitude and positive talk [kept the girls going].โ
The women do have skill and craftiness on their side.
โWeโre very tiny; weโve got some great plays on the outside …. Weโre going to try and work in some plays to get good ball movement and use our speed to our advantage,โ said Joslin.
โWe can only go up from here.โ
For the menโs team, the squad didnโt let Western leave without giving the team harbouring many national players something to think about.
โThe score got out of hand a little bit,โ said the coach. โIn the first half, we were at times totally playing with them and actually being the dominant team, but there were a few rookies and a few guys who didnโt know their responsibilities, and by the second half, [the team] was a little deflated emotionally.โ
But things are looking up for the rest of the season.
The menโs team can build on an exhibition win against those same Western Mustangs (minus a few key players) and put together a solid run.
โI still expect us to compete,โ said McQueen. โWe should definitely beat Toronto [on Sunday] and weโre about on par with Waterloo and Guelph [the Hawks face both teams after the Toronto contest]. Weโve just got to get a few things ironed out.โ
First-year Neil McGregor had a standout game for the men. The fly-half fill-in for the injured starter worked on only two days of practice and performed admirably for the squad, scoring for the Hawks.
The team will also get a boost defensively, as starters Kent Johnstone and Brenden Gilbert will try and make their return from a concussion and a tweaked ankle respectively.
The menโs team visits Toronto on Saturday and returns home to host Guelph at 1 p.m. on Sept. 24. The women will host Waterloo on Saturday at 1 p.m. at University Stadium.