Banting Marauders dominate opponents to capture the first annual Caledon Cavaliers High School Girls Rugby Tournament at Humberview SS 

By Jim Stewart

The Banting Marauders defeated Nottawasaga Pines Timberwolves 22-5 to capture the First Annual Caledon Cavaliers High School Girls Rugby Tournament in drizzly conditions at Humberview Secondary School on Friday afternoon.  The hometown Humberview Huskies secured the Consolation Championship with a tidy 19-7 victory over the Heart Lake Hurricanes. 

To secure their berth in the Championship Final, the Marauders steamrolled their opponents with opening round wins of 39-0 over Humberview and 42-0 shutout of Heart Lake. The Timberwolves earned their spot into the Championship in a similar fashion by shutting out Heart Lake and Humberview. 

Cavaliers' Rugby President Michele Iacovelli was pleased with his organization's inaugural High School Tournament:  “The entire event was a great success and we all believe that it has great potential for becoming an annual Tournament that attracts many more Schools and encourages athletes to participate.  Lara Morrison was instrumental in putting this together and for that we are extremely grateful.”

Morrison — the Tournament Convener and the co-captain of the Cavaliers RFC Junior Girls squad —noted that “the event was beneficial to grow the game of rugby in Caledon and for more girls to learn about club rugby's pathways to university and college.  We were so happy that everybody came, over eighty players participated, and that so many people and companies supported our first tournament.  A big thank you to Konno for promoting the event and for setting up their apparel station and to Gilbert for providing the gift of game balls for the tournament.  We hope that more girls will think about playing club rugby after this tournament and it was a nice opportunity for [Cavaliers Junior Girls] Coach Karen Chrobak to meet players this afternoon.” 

Morrison also thanked “referees Jordan Higdon (Cavaliers Junior Director) and Luca Iacovelli (Coach and Referee Coordinator) for their on-field work, as well as Humberview Huskies Head Coach Mark McLeneghan for co-hosting the event.”  Coach McLeneghan is also the Cavaliers Community Development Director and Junior Girls Coach. 

The inaugural tournament's game-by-game results:  

Game 1: Banting (Alliston) 39-Humberview (Bolton) 0; Game 2: Nottawasaga Pines (Angus) 38-Heart Lake (Brampton) 0; Game 3: Banting 42-Heart Lake 0; Game 4:  Nottawasaga Pines 42-Humberview 0; 

Game 5—Consolation Final: Humberview 19-Heart Lake 7; 

Game 6—Championship Final: Banting 22-Nottawasaga Pines 5.