Silver lining to season is Kawartha A/AA final berth

By Darren Lum

When the Holy Cross Hurricanes came to play the Red Hawks varsity girls’ rugby team they came with more than just their full complement of veterans and rookies. They came with more knowledge of the game and competitive experience which translated into a lopsided victory.

Hawks coach Carson MacDonald has been with the team for several years ago and was optimistic about the loss.

“They always try hard. They do. It’s just sometimes the … experience isn’t there. We’ve always had the same problem with experience. We play six games a year versus teams that play like that” he said looking over at the Hurricanes “that play you know all summer 30 games in the summer or so. So that’s a big difference. They lack the experience but the effort and the enthusiasm is there.”

“That’s always good. I love how they’re always positive no matter what the outcome. They’re always thrilled. That’s good.”

MacDonald pointed out many of the players are playing for the first time so the three games they played is all the competitive play they’ve ever had.

“You can only expect so much of them. I think there’s a lot of positives they can take from the game” he said.

The game was eventually declared a mercy win with close to 10 minutes to go.

By then the Hurricanes chose to play their rookies and juniors against the Hawks.

Coincidentally the day also brought a high level of humidity a steady shower and a threat of thunderstorms. Although there wasn’t much of a storm to speak of in the Highlands the Hawks were left battered bruised and injured.

The team not only lost on the scoreboard but suffered losses in their ranks. Several players in this game were forced to leave the game due to injuries or for concussion concerns.

They started the season with 30 MacDonald said and now are just a little more than the 15 on a field with 17 players. A few more may return from observation of concussion protocols.

Despite the winless record the team is already assured of a spot in the Kawartha A/AA finals because the Hawks are the only A classified school.

They’re expected to play the only AA classified school in the league Adam Scott which they lost to 47-5 to open the season.

Two games are left in the regular season with a possible exhibition home game against Cobourg. Given the short season the game would provide extra game play experience.

MacDonald said there is still a chance for on-field success.

“We’ve played three really good teams … I think we keep on moving forward and hopefully we can win a game or two. We’ll see” he said.