Guelph, ON - Saturday afternoon at Varsity Field on the campus of the University of Guelph, the Gryphons Women's Rugby team lost 21-13 to the McMaster Marauders in the OUA Championship game. With the win, the Marauders lay claim to the OUA title and book a spot in the CIS Championships next week (Nov. 4-8) in Kingston while the Gryphons 2015 season comes to an end.

It was always going to be a shame that one of these two great women's rugby teams were going to be denied the opportunity to compete at nationals. With Queen's playing host to the CIS Championships this year, the Gaels, who were playing in the OUA Bronze medal match Saturday afternoon, received an automatic bid into the CIS tournament. New this year, the OUA only receives two spots in the CIS tournament, meaning Saturday's match between Guelph and McMaster meant much more than just an OUA banner. Despite the fact that the Gryphons and Marauders are ranked No.1 and No. 3 in the country respectively, one team would be heading home disappointed in a game that served as a re-match of last year's OUA Final.

Predictably, the first half was intense with both teams finding points hard to come by in the early going. However, the Gryphons got on the board first. A penaly kick from OUA leading scorer Alex King made it 3-0 Guelph, and soon after, that lead would be pushed to 8-0 thanks to a try from Emily Samek. King's convert into the wind was no good, but the Gryphons held the early upper hand with an 8-0 lead over the defending OUA Champion Marauders. Late in the first half, the Marauders would get a huge lift with a big run up the middle and a try to cut into the deficit. Mac would make good on the convert, and the score at the half was Gryphons 8, Marauders 7.

Around the 53 minute mark, the Gryphons would push their lead to six thanks to a try from OUA All-Star Devon Stober. Again, the convert was no good, but the Gryphons were in front 13-7. The back-and-forth affair would continue as McMaster would answer with the next score. After Guelph received a yellow card, the Marauders were able to take the lead with 10 minutes remaining after a try and a made convert gave them a 14-13 lead on the host Gryphons. Guelph's best chance to re-take the lead was on an Alex King penalty kick but it just sailed wide as the Marauders held on to their slim one point lead. In the dying moments, the Marauders would effectively seal the victory with a late try and convert to push the lead to 21-13 - which would be the final score.

For the Gryphons, it was a bitter way to end what was a tremendous 2015 season.