The Wilfrid Laurier University men’s rugby team’s playoff run came to an end on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018 at the hands of the Guelph Gryphons.Â
The Gryphons landed the first blow on the Hawks as they jumped out to a 7-0 early in the first quarter but the Hawks responded quickly and effectively.Â
Laurier scored on two consecutive drives and eventually took a 19-14 lead into halftime.Â
Things got even better for the purple and gold at the start of the second half, as Darnell Marks scored a huge try off a lineout to extend the Hawks’ lead to 26-14.Â
However, things quickly went downhill from there.Â
Guelph shut-out the Hawks for the rest of the game, while scoring 20 consecutive points of their own, including two tries in the last four minutes to win by a final score of 34-26.Â
It was a valiant effort from the Hawks against one of the best teams in the OUA, but Laurier’s season isn’t quite over yet.
The Hawks will now compete for the OUA bronze medal for the second straight year next weekend.
They will face the winner of the OUA semifinal between Queen’s and the University of Waterloo happening on Sunday.Â
Laurier lost to McMaster in the 2017 bronze medal game so they will be hoping to put up a better performance this time around.Â
It has been an impressive season for the Hawks so far and despite a tough loss this weekend, they still have a chance at making history by capturing the first medal in modern team history next week.Â
