The women's rugby sevens schedule is unique in OCAA in that every team has an opportunity to face each other on three separate weekends throughout the regular season. There is no mystery where teams stand once student-athletes return to classes the following Monday.
With this in mind, the Durham Lords have thrown down the gauntlet, jumping out to a 6-0 start by outscoring their opponents 183-5. By comparison, the Seneca Sting have allowed the second fewest points at 58.
Durham back Shay Morris led the way offensively with six tries and 10 converts for a 50-point weekend. Not surprisingly, Morris leads all OCAA players in points through six matches.
Durham has finished as silver medalists at consecutive OCAA championships, and certainly have the motivation to take the top prize this year.
One team that did not appear to get overwhelmed by the Durham juggernaut was Fleming, last season's bronze medalist. Although the Knights lost 10-5 to the Lords, Fleming fly half Abby Todd was the only player to score a try against Durham the entire weekend. Todd is currently second in OCAA scoring with a league-best seven tries in six matches.
The 10 points against versus Fleming was also the lowest total allowed by an opponent to Durham in its six matches. Honourable mention also goes to the aforementioned Sting, who kept Durham to a dozen points in a shutout loss.
Defending champion Humber was the only team to play to two draws during the weekend, first against Algonquin 14-14, then St. Lawrence 7-7. Both Algonquin and St. Lawrence finished the weekend with identical 3-2-1 records, with the latter having bragging rights with a 27-0 win in head-to-head competition. St. Lawrence back Ella Van Hal scored three tries against Algonquin in the match. Van Hal is currently third in scoring with six tries and a convert totalling 32 points.
Durham (6-0) has a two-game advantage over Fleming (4-2) atop the OCAA standings. These two teams host the next round of competitions, first in Oshawa on Oct. 1-2 then in Peterborough on Oct. 15-16.
The OCAA championship will be hosted by Loyalist on Oct. 30.
Source: OCAA Communications
Photo Credit: Diego Guillen