GUELPH, Ont. – The Western Mustangs women's rugby team fell to the CIS number one ranked Guelph Gryphons 24-14 in a close matchup on Saturday afternoon.
 
It was a strong start to the season for the Mustangs as they held their own against the defending OUA Champion Gryphons, who now own a 2-0 record after their first two games of the season. Western now sits at 0-1 with Saturday's contest being the team's first regular season game.
 
The game started out with a dominant first half for the Mustangs. Western was first on the board with a try from Breanne Nicholas while Meaghann Buitinga added the conversion. Although Guelph returned with seven points of their own, the half would end with Western leading 14-7 thanks to another try from Nicholas and conversion from Buitinga to give Western the lead.
 
The second half was a different story for the Mustangs as the Gryphons kept them off the scoreboard for the full half. It was the same three players who took the lead for Guelph in the second half, as the Gryphons scored 17 points in the half to make it a 24-14 final for Guelph.

"We were pleased with the way we played against Guelph.  We did a lot of good things.  For our first game of the season we did a good job to work together and had a good flow to our game. However, we are obviously very disappointed that we let the lead slip away from us in the second half. We know that the next time we meet Guelph that the outcome will certainly be a different one. We had a strong defensive stance against the Gryphons in the last 15 minutes of the game and proved to be formidable opponents. We look forward to seeing them again in the playoffs!" 

The Mustangs are back in action on Wednesday, September 18 at 6:00 p.m. as the team hosts their first game on Western's new Alumni Field against the Brock Badgers.