The Philip Pocock Pirates left little doubt which team was better in their Region of Peel Secondary School Athletic Association girls tier one rugby semi-final today.
The Pirates used their superior speed, power and numbers to substitute freely in a one-sided 31-5 victory over the Erindale Raiders at Pocock.
The win means a return trip to the championship after losing to the Applewood Axemen last year.
“I know we were there last year, which was fantastic,” nine-year Pocock coach Drago Radic told his players after the traditional handshakes at midfield. “This year, we’re going to give it to them.”
Radic didn’t know at the time that “them” would be the Mayfield Mavericks who knocked off Applewood 24-5, resulting in a Pocock-Mayfield final on Wednesday beginning at 1:30 p.m. at the Oakville Crusaders Rugby Club.
While Radic maintained he had no favourites, long-time co-coach Matt Piemontese said playing, “Applewood would (have been) nice,” making it both an all-Mississauga final and a chance for revenge.
Radic feels his team is better this time around.
“Hopefully the difference will be experience,” he said. “We have 10 Grade 12 students (playing) in their last year. I think that’s going to help us.”
One of the secrets to Pocock’s success is the number of tournaments they enter during the year, giving both the junior and senior players on the varsity squad plenty of game experience.
“We like to play as much as we can,” he said. “You can practice, but there’s nothing like baptism by fire.”
Jordan Debrincat and Shari Stefaniuk had two tries apiece for the winning Pirates, while Jennifer Gilroy had a try and Stephanie Harrison had three converts.
Asha Hoffland replied for Erindale.
One tier two semi-final was also played today with the Port Credit Warriors fighting their way back from a slow start to defeat the Notre Dame Knights 17-10.
“I thought we didn’t want it at the start,” said Warriors’ coach Erika Proctor, who guided her team to a tier two title last year. “But after 15 minutes, we picked (the pace) up and in the next 45 minutes we had a lot of strong play.”
The Warriors actually trailed 10-7, before Proctor said her players, “settled their nerves.”
Caileigh Simpson, with two, and Lucy Yordanou with one try, paced the Warriors who received a convert from Lynsay Turner.
Kaitlyn Maddigan and Evangeline Kyei had tries for the Knights.
The Warriors will take on the Robert Hall Wolfpack in the tier two final on Wednesday at 2:30 on Oakville field two.
The Wolfpack were to play the Lorne Park Spartans in the other semi-final, but the Spartans were disqualified for not getting their winning quarter-final score submitted on time.
Proctor felt her team earned an advantage over Robert Hall by playing.
“I think we get better with the more games we play,” she explained. “With more playing time, comes focus, instead of just walking in (to the final having not played).”
The senior boys tier one final will be an all-Mississauga affair on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
The Streetsville Tigers crushed the Erindale Raiders 46-0 in one semi-final, while the Lorne Park Spartans blanked the Mayfield Mavericks, 43-0.
dwiner@mississauga.net