ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ

by Earl Zukerman

LENNOXVILLE – Elissa Alarie, a rookie fly-half from Trois-Rivieres, tallied three tries as visiting ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ bashed Bishop’s 39-5 in women’s university rugby at Lennoxville, Que., Wednesday.

It extended the Martlets undefeated streak against the Gaiters to 19-0 since 1998, the first year that the sport was sanctioned by Canadian Interuniversity Sport.

Rounding out the scoring for the Martlets was sophomore Briana Yerbury of Dorval, Que., with a pair of tries, plus single tries from junior Laura Stewart of St. Adele, Que., and sophomore Mandy Mongeon of Ile. Bizard, Que.

Colleen Marcotte, a sophomore from Huntingdon added a pair of conversions.

Sue Magwood, a native of Lennoxville, scored the lone try for the Gaiters, who finished last with a 0-5-1 record. She snapped a four-game shutout streak that Bishop’s had been skunked by the Martlets, dating back to 2004. ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ has won 15 of the 19 confrontations via shutout.

It was the final game before playoffs for the Martlets, 4-2, who can clinch second place in the Quebec conference should Concordia (4-1-0) lose their final game at first-place Laval (5-0) on Saturday.

ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ will now host St. Francis Xavier (6-0), the top team in the Atlantic conference, on Sunday in the McEwen Cup contest. The annual exhibition match between the X-Women and Martlets was initiated in 2004 by ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ to honor and thank the McEwen family of Montreal who generously donated land for ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Athletics playing fields.

ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ won the inaugural Cup in 2004, while the X-Women were victorious in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Each team rotates hosting duties for the contest.