(Posted
1:30 p.m., May 7)
St. Peter Knights aim for high school rugby repeat
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
|
A
member oif the St. Peter Knights crashes into
a pair of Caririne Wilson defenders in senior
bys rugby action on May 7. Fred Sherwin/Photo
|
|
The
St. Peter Knights senior boys rugby team kept their unblemished
record intact on Monday with a 45-13 win over the Cairine
Wilson Wildcats.
The
win improved the Knights' record to 3-0 with two games
left in the regular season.
Their
goal is to earn their way to the final and successfully
defend the city championships they won last year.
Veteran
Knights coach LeeAnn Napiorkowski says this team is still
a work in progress.
"Considering
the late start to the season we're in pretty good shape.
We're a pretty young team and we still have a few things
to work on, but the guys have a lot of character and passion
for the game,� says Napiorkowski.
It
took the Knights just three minutes to get on the scoreboard
against the Wildcats. Fran�ois Therrien scored his team's
opening try to cap a sustained opening drive that saw
him place a near-perfect kick out of bounds at the three-metre
line.
After
winning the lineout, the Knights got the ball into Therrien's
hands who scored with relative ease. He then added the
convert to give the Knights the early 7-0 lead.
The
Knights would capitalize on a Wildcats turnover eight
minutes later that led to a Dom Wheeler try. Therrien
once again split the uprights on the convert attempt and
just like that, the Knights were up 14-0.
They
would extend their lead to 21-0 in the 25th minute after
the Wildcats committed another faux pas, playing the ball
backwards into their own goal area where they fumbled
it away and into the hands of Pierre Hardy-Gouombas who
laid it down for the easiest try of the game. Another
Therrien capped the scoring sequence with his third convert
in a row.
The
Knights weren't done yet, however. Connor Millenor bulled
his way through half of the Wildcats' defence to score
a try on the last play of the opening half. Another convert
by Therrien would give the Knights a 28-0 lead at the
break.
A
revved-up Wildcats team started the second half like gangbusters
and managed to get on the scoreboard on a try by Enhom
Fareghi. A missed convert attempt, however, left them
trailing 28-5.
It
took the Knights just five minutes to respond with their
fifth try of the game scored by Tristan Ouellette.
The
Wildcats answered back seven minutes later with an unconverted
try by Sean Bartlett.
Tbe
Knights' Zak Karim scored the team's sixth try two minutes
later and Adrian Poirier followed suit seven minutes after
that to give the visitors a commanding 43-10.
The
Wildcats would get one try back in the dying seconds of
the game on a converted try by Greg Kinsey to make the
final score 43-17.
It
was an impressive performance by the defending champions
who were coming off a hard fought 5-0 win over the Glebe
Gryphons last week. The Knights' next game is against
the Ashbury Colts on May 14.
(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of
our local business partners.)
|