There are no points for moral victories in Alberta women's division one rugby for a scrappy St. Albert squad despite their heart and hustle on the pitch.
Last year’s provincial division two champions are winless following losses of 45-31 to the Calgary Saracens and 45-10 against the Calgary Irish after going 7-2 in the Edmonton Rugby Union spring league for a division one promotion.
“They’re competing in every game,” said head coach Byron Elliott after Saturday’s gritty effort against the Saracens at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club. “They know they’re at one level and they need to jump up to another one so they’re aware of the work they have to put in.”
Division one is where the SARFC ladies belong.
“At the beginning of the season when we had that little team meeting this is what they wanted. This is what they’re working towards and the training has been good,” Elliott said. “They’re achieving their goal. They wanted to be competitive in first div and it’s fantastic to see.”
SARFC kicked off the division one fixtures July 11 against the Irish in Red Deer with only 14 players.
“They put their heart and everything into that game,” Elliott said. “We controlled that game for the first half. The second half we came out and they were just fatigued and I don’t blame them for that at all.
“The only thing that hindered us in that game was unfortunately we had 14 players so we had no fresh legs come on to give you that bit of energy through the team. Obviously the heat played a factor as well, especially when you’ve got only 14 players, and the Irish used their squad very well too. They’ve been around for a long time and they’ve got some skilled players but we still competed.”
The Saracens were another stiff test but SARFC scored five tries for a bonus point in the division table, highlighted by McKenzie Pusch’s hat-trick.
SARFC was also missing four players to injuries – including standout Katie Davis, the team’s MVP the last two years, with a season-ending lower-body injury suffered in last month’s 10-5 spring league loss to Crude/West in St. Albert – and five others were unavailable for the match but the home side still had 19 bodies dressed for battle.
“They played well today but credit the Saracens; they’re a quality outfit and they were last year’s (provincial) finalists,” Elliott said. “Five tries against an opposition like that is awesome.”
The Saracens racked up seven tries and five conversions in their second win of the season.
“Offensively they were coming up strong at pace,” Pusch said. “It was nerve-wracking that’s for sure. They have strong, strong offence. They were a tough team.”
The Saracens led 19-12 at halftime despite dominating time of possession and field position.
“We came at them pretty strong defensively despite how nervous we were,” Pusch said. “We worked together and we talked a lot on defence.”
The Saracens opened the scoring with a forward-driven converted try in the first minute.
The Saracens kept turning up the heat but a lengthy defensive stand forced the visitors to turn the ball over several times in prime scoring position.
Pusch’s first try in the 21st minute relieved the intense pressure. The 18-year-old winger flew down the pitch from deep in SARFC territory and stepped out of a tackle in front of Calgary’s 22-metre line en route to the try area.
The Saracens replied four minutes later with a try to lead 12-5.
Pusch’s second try, a galloping run down the touchline from inside the halfway line before planting the ball down under the posts, and Krysta Florence’s conversion knotted the score at 12 in the 31st minute.
The try was the shortest of Pusch’s three scoring plays but it was her favourite.
“Jill (Ankutowicz) had the ball first and she offloaded it to me and that worked well team-wise. It just made each other both look good,” said the high school rugby product of the Bellerose Bulldogs.
Late in the half the Saracens crossed the try line with the forwards leading the charge and the difficult conversion kick was successful.
A powerful run into the try area by SARFC captain Sabrina Kelly from about Calgary’s 40-metre line cut the deficit to two points early in the second half.
The Saracens’ big pack pushed its way across the try line in the 50th minute and the conversion put them on top by nine.
After another stout defensive effort by SARFC, Michelle Marler rattled off a scoring dash from outside the halfway line and Florence’s conversion in the 57th minute left the ladies trailing 26-24.
The Saracens eventually pulled away with three tries and two conversions during a 15-minute span.
Pusch’s last try, another coast-to-coast burst of speed, and Florence’s conversion closed out the entertaining contest.
“When we had possession, and we didn’t have a lot, but when we did we looked good. We were going forward but then it would be a case of a silly turnover or a bad decision or we would kind of turn the ball over and then we went for long periods of defence, and when you’re defending it absolutely wrecks you physically,” Elliott said. “The feedback from the girls (in the post-game huddle) was fitness might have been an issue and the press wasn’t moving on defence and it wasn’t a fact that they didn’t want to but when you start to fatigue you start thinking about how tired you are.”
The match was Pusch’s first of the season and last year her senior team debut included tries in the ERU final (36-22 come-from-behind victory over the Sirens in Calgary) and the provincial final (29-12 against the Saints in Calgary).
“It was almost like a walk in the park in div two (for the 11-4 champions) but in div one we have to talk a lot more and let each other know where we are,” Pusch said.
Saturday’s match against the LTs/Druids kicks off at 4 p.m. at SARFC.
