WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Queen's University Gaels jumped out to a convincing 29-0 lead in the first half of Saturday's Consolation Semifinal and cruised the rest of the way in a 29-10 decision over the Calgary Dinos at Raymond Field.
 
Sophie de Goede, the nation's Player of the Year, tallied one try and engineered three more with clever laterals.
 
"She's a very smart player who, if you give her room, will hurt you," said Calgary fullback Elysa Sandron.
 
Four minutes into the match, following a Calgary turnover, de Goede carried inside the Calgary 15 before dishing to Nadia Popov, who journeyed the rest of the way to open the scoring.
 
The Dinos looked to even the match before turning over possession near the Queen's goal, one of four critical Calgary turnovers in the match deep inside Queen's territory. Moments later, de Goede made the Dinos pay in the 14th minute, sprinting past three defenders before finding Popov for the second try.
 
Moments later, de Goede dashed into the Calgary secondary and, with a pair of defenders closing in, waited until the very last second before lateralling to a speeding Camille Irwin in full flight. Irwin had nothing but daylight in front of her and scored untouched.
 
Queen's wasn't finished. Just two minutes later, Irwin off-loaded to Popov for her third try of the afternoon.
 
Near the end of the half, de Goede took advantage of a tired Calgary defence, registering the Gaels' fifth try.
 
"We came out super flat and did not match their intensity," reflected Dinos head coach Simon Chi. "We could not recover in the first half, but credit to the team for battling in the second half and getting two tries. This is young group that needs to know that in this environment, you have to give 100 perfect all the time."
 
Calgary received late tries from Cassidy Jones and Kasselle Menin late in the game to round out the scoring.
 
"For our younger players, this was their first time in this environment. The positive out of this is that the majority of the team is coming back and will have a chance to learn from this experience," said Chi.
 
The Gaels advance to the consolation final on Sunday, while the Dinos see their time at the U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship come to an end.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
QUE 29-0: 29
CGY  0-10: 10
 
First half
QUE – Nadia Popov try 4th
QUE – Nadia Popov try 14th
QUE –Camille Irwin try 18th
QUE –Nadia Popov try (Popov convert) 20th
QUE – de Goede try (de Goede convert) 33rd
 
Second half
CGY – Cassidy Jones try 63rd
CGY –Kasselle Menin 72nd
 
Players of the game
QUE: Sophie de Goede
CGY: Coralyn Cafaro
 
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