BARRIE, Ont. - After capturing their first provincial banner in program history last fall, the Durham College men's rugby team made it back-to-back OCAA gold medals after defeating the Georgian Grizzlies 22-17 in the championship final on Sunday afternoon in Barrie, Ont.
After returning to the OCAA conference last season and making their debut in league play, the Lords have accrued a record of 14-3 overall in their two seasons, laying their claim to be one of the best post-secondary rugby programs in the country with two provincial banners to their names in two years of competition.
Lords No. 10 Taylor Dallas (Port Perry, Ont.) was named the Championship MVP making several spectacular tackles in the championship final, in addition to guiding the offence from his fly-half position. Also honoured following the match were Patrick Lynch (Oshawa, Ont.) and Austin Knox (Cobourg, Ont.) who were both named Championship All-Stars.
On the field, action began with a defensive stalemate as both teams came within 10 yards of each other's try zone, but would be denied points through the opening 20 minutes.
Eventually it was Durham who broke through first as Lynch bulldozed his way through a number of Grizzlies tacklers and with outstretched arms broke the line to score the first try of the match. Lords kicker Eddie Oliveira (Oshawa, Ont.) nailed the convert to put DC ahead 7-0.
Then with four minutes remaining in the opening frame and the Lords on the offensive again, some well-done passing allowed Jordon Henry (Whitby, Ont.) to run freely in for the try on the far side, catching the Grizzlies defence out of position late in the half to jump ahead 12-0.
However just before the halftime whistle, with a designed play from a scrum, Georgian found open space on the near side and speedster Tennyson Brown would not be caught allowing the Grizzlies to enter the break down by one score, 12-7.
Following halftime Durham went right back on the attack and prop Daniel Cooper (Uxbridge, Ont.) powered his way through the Georgian tacklers to once again extend the Lords lead with another try. Oliveira nailed his second convert to make it a 19-7 game.
Finding success on the outside, the Grizzlies sent the ball back to Brown where he would score his second try of the match to respond and draw closer, 19-12, in the back-and-forth contest.
After Oliveira successfully kicked a penalty to make it a 22-12 score line, Brown would add a third to his day for Georgian to bring the game to within just one score, 22-17.
Staring down the continuous pressure of the undefeated and OCAA west champion Grizzlies in the closing minutes, key tackles from several Lords including Championship MVP Dallas stifled any attempt at completing the comeback, securing Durham's second consecutive OCAA men's rugby championship.
In Aurora, Ont., the Humber men's rugby team capped off its 2019 season in style, capturing its first OCAA medal since 2014 following a 33-22 win over the Seneca Sting on Saturday afternoon.
Humber struggled with the size of the Sting early on as Seneca bullied its way down the field, opening the scoring in the 14th minute.
The Hawks would respond with their own try less than 10 minutes later but still trailed after failing to make the convert. The two sides would trade points for the remainder of the half with the Sting converting in extra time giving to take a five-point lead into the break, 17- 12.
The second half would be a much different story for the Hawks, as they stormed down the field on their first possession scoring a try and adding the convert in the 42nd minute to take a two-point lead.
Humber would add to its lead converting a try in the 58th minute as Zach Shurtleff made a terrific solo run down the right side of the field making the score, 26-17.
The Hawks would tack on one more try before the final whistle sounded with Humber winning the OCAA bronze medal match, 33-22.
Shurtleff was named Player of the Game for Humber, finishing with 16 points on two tries and three converts.
Richard Sheffield, Scott Kisiel, and Christopher Dominey were all named Championship All-Stars following the match.
With the win, Humber finds itself back on the OCAA podium following a string of nine straight medals from 2006-14, which included five straight OCAA gold medals (2009-14).
Source: Durham Lords/Humber Hawks
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