The Ridge Meadows Bruins ladies rugby team made the jump to the first division this season, and have yet to win this spring.
The women came close, however, and lost by two points to the Brit Lions over the weekend, 28-26. Their record stands at 0-4.
Coach Malcolm Knox noted that his team was without some key players, who are dealing with injuries: Stephanie Janum, Ruth Desterke and Kelsey Cowie.
But they have added some new players since Christmas – Condesa Strain and Adrianne Marks both returned after a two-year break, and have been performing “extremely well.”
They also had a new player join two weeks ago, Lorrie-Ann McDonald, who scored two of the four tries on Saturday.
“She played her first game for us last week, where she also scored. She has three tries in two games,” said Knox.
“She has brought a great deal of experience, positivity and energy into the squad. She is a very strong runner that is very hard to stop.”
The club has four players on the team who only started playing rugby for the first time in the past few months.
“Our goal is to grow participation in the game without adding players from other clubs,” said Knox.
“We would much rather identify raw athletic talent and find new players locally than attract players from other clubs. Rugby is multifaceted and all body shapes, sizes, speed and strength have a position in the game.”
Andrea Fouchard continues to dominate scoring, with seven tries in five games.
“She is extremely fast and scored from distance, by outpacing her opposite number,” said Knox.
Aphra Taylor had an outstanding game, leading by example with some bone-crunching tackles.
Katie Zadorozny, the pack leader and vice-captain, “returned from a rib injury ready with guns blazing, running hard and delivering big tackles.”
Dianna Yale spent the whole game giving 100 per cent commitment to contact, and has shown incredible development since trying rugby for the first time in the fall, said the coach.
“While we are still perhaps finding our way a little in Division 1, we have been able to score tries in every game. Very shortly, things will click together brilliantly and we will deliver a big winning result,” he added.
Their next home game will be April 25 at Thomas Haney secondary. Start time is 11:30 a.m.