GUELPH, Ont. – They may have left it late but the Guelph Gryphons men's rugby team has earned a spot in the OUA championship match. The Gryphons were down against a tough Laurier Golden Hawks side but 22 unanswered second-half points, including
MacKenzie Kea's match winner in the dying minutes of the second half, lifted the hosts to a dramatic 34-26 win in the OUA semi-final Saturday at Varsity Field. With the victory, the Gryphons not only earn a spot in the OUA title game, they also qualify for nationals, with the 2018 Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship set to take place in Victoria, B.C. (Nov. 21-25).
Kea, a towering fifth-year lock, got his hands on the ball after a scrum and punched it in with a fantastic effort to put Guelph up 29-26 in a match they had trailed going back to the first half.
The try itself was representative of a team that didn't give up when its season was on the line.
Kea, and several other veterans came up big on Saturday. Fifth-year wing
Jordan Hofstra had two tries, while a trio of fourth-year athletes, flanker
Marcello Wainwright, lock
Matt Van Camp, and centre
Kyle Lagasca, each had a try in the comeback win.
There was an intensity building before the match and it got interesting quick as Guelph kicked off but took the ball over immediately in the Laurier end. Wainwright touched down from a couple yards out to give the Gryphons a 7-0 lead in just the second minute, suggesting a route might be on.
But the Hawks showed the toughness early, bouncing back with a pair of tries, the second coming from Matt Fish.
Fish missed the first convert but made the one on his own try to give the visitors a 12-7 lead. When Van Camp touched down, the hosts went up 14-12 but that was the last they would see of the lead until Kea's decisive try. Laurier applied pressure on the Gryphons and took advantage of a yellow card late in the first half, with Bob Ballantine scoring in the 40th minute and Darnell Marks touching down in the 45th after a Laurier lineout deep in the Gryphons' end.
The Hawks had all the momentum and Guelph added to the misery by turning the ball over. But things began to turn midway through the second half when Hofstra scored his first try of the day in the 51st minute, a great run from about 10 yards out. Lagasca then made a bruising run with Laurier defenders draped all over him to get the Gryphons within two at 26-24.
But the kicking game was suffering and despite trying a couple different players for converts, Guelph missed both kicks.
That troubling trend continued as the Gryphons tried to take a lead with penalty kick attempts on two separate occasions. But both of those were wide, as well.
Kea made sure no kick was needed when he touched down in the 76th minute to complete the furious comeback and earn Guelph a berth in the championship match for the fifth consecutive year. Hofstra closed it out with another try moments before the whistle.
Turning Point
Hofstra's first try gave Guelph a much-needed boost but the side was well on its way to completing the comeback when Lagasca got in with a huge effort. Laurier had answers all day but once Guelph got within two, the momentum swing was apparent.
Gryphon Take
"We're a big 80-minute team. We play right to the end. It was a hard-fought battle and we kept hammering away."
"Right from the get go at the start of the season, we're aiming for the championship game. It's good to see all the hard work pay off. That's what you play for."
"We were close to the goal line and I saw a little hole and went to push it in but it closed up. I was just trying to survive and saw another hole and got there as quick as I could and slammed it down. I don't score many so it was nice to get the winning try." –
fifth-year lock MacKenzie Kea
"I was just happy with the perseverance of the guys. In the first half, we barely got to play any rugby because Laurier controlled the ball so much. It wasn't really until about the 25
th minute in the second half where we finally got on the front foot, were finally able to control the ball ourselves, and got to play rugby. The guys did a heckuva job once they got the chance."
"Thankfully and unfortunately, we're yellow carded a fair bit so we're proficient at playing with 14 men."
"The guys showed a tremendous amount of resiliency. There were a lot of time we could have buckled. We're a team that doesn't get behind very often so when we go down, we don't really know what to expect. The guys were able to keep compose, stick to the plan and the players coming in off the bench made a massive difference." –
head coach Cory Hector
The Record
Guelph is 7-1 (regular season), 1-0 playoffs.
Next up
OUA Championship (date/time TBD)
Queen's hosts Waterloo Sunday (1pm) in the other OUA semi-final. If Queen's win, the Gryphons will travel to Kingston for the OUA Final. If Waterloo pulls off the upset, the Gryphons would host the Warriors.
