Game Report
Burnaby Lake Premier Women vs. UBC
Mar 19/05
By Walt Brandl
The Burnaby Lake Women defeated UBC 28-12 on Saturday in their last regular season game before heading into a BC semi-final against Capilanos next weekend.
Even though the game had no impact on the standings, as UBC had lost their last chance at a play-off spot after losing to Caps on the last play of the game last weekend and Burnaby had clinched 3rd place some weeks earlier, both teams looked forward to a competitive encounter. UBC had been one of the hottest teams in the second half of the season and the presence of at least three former UBC players wearing the Burnaby Lake jerseys brought a measure of (good natured?) rivalry between the two clubs.
Burnaby Lake began strong immediately dominating both possession and territory. A lack of patience and perhaps discipline negated any chance of scoring from in close. Not to be discouraged, Burnaby continued the attack from the mid-field and, after some excellent ball handling Jessica Dovanne found a crease in the defense, broke through and outpaced the UBC cover (and the Burnaby support) to score a 40 metre try. Burnaby looked like they might turn the game into a romp as they continued domination and Julia Sugawara broke from the base drew both the last defender and the cover and dished the ball to Dawn Williams in support for another long try.
UBC kept their head up and, taking advantage of a little bit of a let down by Burnaby, began taking the game to the host club. The last 15 minutes of the 2st half were all UBC on attack and they were rewarded with a try following continued pressure and possession close to the Burnaby line.
In the second half Burnaby maintained a balanced attack with a mix of forwards driving the ball up and the backs striking into space. Erin Agostini and D’Alice Marsh repeatedly turned marginal possession into quality ball by going forward in stagnant situations From within 10 metres Julia Sugawara extended the UBC defense across the field until she found a gap and then took the ball in herself. Then Mandy Lewis was rewarded for her strong running all game with another Burnaby try. The game seemed to lose some structure in the last 15 minutes and eventually the referee awarded UBC a penalty try, in theory for repeat offside infringements.
The game saw the return of Canada hopeful stand-off Anna Schnell playing her first game in a year following shoulder surgery. With the exception of some early, nervous errors Anna directed the Burnaby attack confidently, looked strong in contact and added her kicking skills to the ever expanding Burnaby Lake arsenal.
Next game is the BC semi-final, March 26th 11:30 am at Klahanie Park vs. defending champion Capilanos. Please come and support the Women’s bid for another championship.
Posted by Mark at March 21, 2005 09:27 AM
