MONTREAL – Freshman
Monty Weatherall, a native of England, scored a game-high 12 points and sophomore
Karl Hunger of Beaconsfield, Que., added a pair of tries as second-place McGill defeated third-seeded Ottawa 37-22 in an RSEQ men's rugby semifinal at Percival Molson Stadium, Saturday.
It was the sixth consecutive victory for McGill, which posted a 5-1 regular season record and advances to the RSEQ championship game against the top-seeded Stingers at Concordia Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. Both finalists also punched their ticket to the Canadian University national championship tournament, to be hosted by Concordia, Nov. 20-24.
The Stingers, who registered an unblemished 6-0 record, punched their ticket to the Quebec final after dispatching fourth-place Montreal 47-8 in the other semifinal. Concordia handed McGill its only loss of the season in a narrow 23-21 contest at Concordia Stadium on Sept. 14.
McGill took an early 6-0 advantage but after Ottawa narrowed the gap to 6-3, the home side rattled off seven consecutive scoring plays to take a commanding 32-3 lead. The Gee-Gees then mounted a spirited comeback at 32-22 in the 75th minute before a last-minute McGill try put the game out of reach.
Weatherall, a six-foot, 183-pound international development studies major who led McGill and finished fourth among league leaders with 47 points, connected for two penalty kicks and added three conversions.
Rounding out McGill's offence with one try apiece was
Maxime Rieuf , a sophomore from Los Angeles,
Ryan Robb of Wilton, Conn., and Montrealer
Andreas Dionisopoulos.
The Gee-Gees were led by sophomore
Connor Williams, an Ottawa native who tallied a pair of tries. Fly-half
Nathaniel Maginnis, a rookie from the U.K., contributed seven points on a penalty kick and two conversions. The Gee-Gees other try scorer was
Duncan Hladik, a sophomore from Ottawa.
McGill's
Jeremy Ockomichalak, a junior from Los Angeles, drew the game's only yellow card, in the 26th minute of play with his side ahead by a 20-3 margin.
The win over Ottawa marks McGill's return to the provincial championship for the first time since 2016, when the Carabins came away with a 25-15 upset.
RSEQ SCHEDULE & STATS
OTT-McG GAME STATS & DRESSLIST
SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 35, Ottawa 22
(RSEQ SEMIFINAL at Percival Molson Stadium, Nov. 2/19)
| 1 |
3' |
McGill |
PENALTY-KICK |
Monty Weatherall |
McG 3-0 |
| 1 |
14' |
McGill |
PENALTY-KICK |
Monty Weatherall |
McG 6-0 |
| 1 |
26' |
Ottawa |
PENALTY-KICK |
Nathaniel Naginnis |
McG 6-3 |
| 1 |
30' |
McGill |
TRY |
Ryan Robb (convert by M.Weatherall) |
McG 13-3 |
| 1 |
37' |
McGill |
TRY |
Maxime Rieuf (convert by M.Weatherall) |
McG 20-3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2 |
43' |
McGill |
TRY |
Karl Hungar (convert missed by M.Weatherall) |
McG 25-3 |
| 2 |
56' |
McGill |
TRY |
Andreas Dionisopoulos (convert by M.Weatherall) |
McG 32-3 |
| 2 |
61' |
Ottawa |
TRY |
Noah Toor (convert by Nathaniel Maginnis) |
McG 32-10 |
| 2 |
67' |
Ottawa |
TRY |
Duncan Hladik (convert missed by Nathaniel Maginnis) |
McG 32-15 |
| 2 |
75' |
Ottawa |
TRY |
Noah Toor (convert by Nathaniel Maginnis) |
McG 32-22 |
| 2 |
79' |
McGill |
TRY |
Karl Hungar (convert missed by Jacob Robb) |
McG 35-22 |
CARDS:
Jeremy Ockomichalak, McGill (yellow in 26th minute)
