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Rugby (W) | 9/10/2016 2:55:00 PM | Posted by: Peter Reimer (Sports Information Intern)
Gaels crush Trent in season opener
KINGSTON, Ont. (September 10, 2016) - The Gaels got points from eight different players as the women's rugby team dominated the Trent Excalibur in a convincing 71-5 win Saturday afternoon on Nixon Field.

GAME FLOW
Nadia Popov (Newmarket, Ont.) returned to the Gaels lineup in style, scoring the first two tries of the season for the tricolour. Popov was the OUA Rookie of the Year in 2012 when she was fourth in OUA scoring with 52 points, but hasn't played CIS rugby since her first year of eligibility because she earned a spot with team Canada, including the senior women's sevens team in 2015.


Queen's quickly added to the 10 points from Popov, with Molly Labenski (Oakville, Ont.), Jordi Di Nardo (Toronto), and Kendyl Wilson (Oakville, Ont.) scoring a try each before haltime. Labenski and Wilson transferred to join the Gaels roster this year, both starting their masters at Queen's after playing for a strong team at Acadia.

The Gaels took a 29-0 lead into halftime thanks to a pair of successful conversions from captain Erin Geddes (Lindsay, Ont.).

Trent finally got on the board early in the second half on a try from Jordan Semark. The unsuccessful conversion made it 36-5 in favour of Queen's.

The tricolour regained control of the game soon afterward, and continued to dominate the field of play until the final whistle. Popov finished the game with three tries for Queen's, while McKinley Hunt (King City, Ont.) and Labenski contributed two tries each. In addition to the scores from Di Nardo and Wilson, the Gaels also got a try apiece from Lauren Cranfield (Pickering, Ont.) and Abby Refausse (Trenton, Ont.). Geddes finished the day with eight successful conversions on 11 attempts.

BY THE NUMBERS
15 - Nadia Popov scored 15 points in her return to the Gaels lineup
16 - Captain Erin Geddes recorded 16 points, all from conversions
47 - The Gaels held Trent scoreless for the first 47 minutes of the game

FINAL SAY
"Having Nadia around is awesome," head coach Beth Barz said. "She's able to score tries, but she's also looking to set other people up. If we kept assists in rugby, she would have had a few in that game. That was great to see. She's obviously keen to get her teammates involved."