A Pontiac High School girls rugby team has, for the third year in a row, claimed the title of regional champions in the RSEQ (Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec).
The school had two teams in this year’s high school league, a decision girls’ rugby coach Phil Holmes made in an attempt to give the program’s 30 players more time on the pitch.
He split them up to create two evenly-skilled teams, one with some of the more senior players (Pontiac 1), and the other with some of the more junior players (Pontiac 2).
In Sunday’s championship match against Philemon Wright High School, played on home turf, the Pontiac 2 team cleaned up without letting opponents score a single point.
“It wasn’t a victory, it was a domination,” Holmes said, following the game. “They dominated until the end.They left every bit that they had on the pitch. They pushed themselves and they pushed each other.”
The Pontiac 1 team was undefeated except by Pontiac 2 going into Sunday’s semi-final game, which they lost to Philemon Wright, setting that school against Pontiac 2 for the championship game.
Pontiac 2 team captains Lorelei Smith and Iyla Smith said they were proud of how the team had evolved over the year.
“I just think we’ve improved so much, physically and mentally. We’re not a team, we’re like a family,” Iyla said.
In a post-game huddle, teammates applauded Iyla for her on-pitch leadership.
“It’s just to keep the team positive and not let them get in our heads and make sure we’re giving our all. It helps me stay motivated when I’m motivating others,” Iyla later told THE EQUITY, explaining why she makes the effort to keep her teammates pumped.
“This was our last game of the season and I thought we should leave everything out there and make our community proud.”
Lorelei, for her part, celebrated teammate Piper Smith’s impressive performance on the field.
“Piper pushed through every single tackle someone made on her and she just stayed positive,” Lorelei said, noting Piper made at least three tries in the game.
“I think we did really well. We all just worked together, and stayed positive.”
Holmes was proud to see the girls to another gold medal.
“We started the program back up three years ago, and now we have three championships in a row,” he said.
“And that is just credit to how awesome our girls are, and how hard they work.”
Boys lose to Philemon in close semi-final
PHS’s boys rugby team lost 14-10 to Philemon Wright in a neck-to-neck semi-final game at PHS on Sunday.
“We got a try right away, and shortly after that we got a second try. We held the line defensively for most of the game and then they got two late tries,” said boys’ coach Reece Bastien.
He said the team, which now has 16 players, received a handful of new players at the beginning of the year, many of whom had never played a game of rugby before, and that he saw serious improvements over the course of the season.
“It was a very close game and it could have gone either way. I’m very proud with how they played and how they’ve progressed throughout the season.”
Bennett Rusenstrom, captain for the boys team, said he was also proud of how far the team made it.
“We had a rough start. Not many people knew how to throw a ball, but we worked every week together.”
