London, ON. – The Mustangs women's rugby team lost their first playoff game of the season by a 17-10 margin to the Waterloo Warriors – their smallest margin of the season yet. The loss will bring the Mustangs to a 0-5 record for the season, leaving them in 5^th place in the OUA SHIELS Division, and the Warriors up to a 2-3 record, leaving them in 4^th in the RUSSELL Division.
 
The Mustangs presented a united front against the Warriors the moment the ball dropped and the clock started. A long run from 8-woman Brooke Newsome led to the Mustangs deep in the Warriors half, with a quick pass to flanker Jade Farhat and another to scrum-half Sarah Thompson promising an attempt at a try. While Waterloo was quick to defend, the ball continued to remain on their half of the pitch for first quarter of the game before the Warriors gained possession and scored the first try of the game with a deep run from centre Heather Bews. Fullback Sarah King was successful with the convert, bringing the Warriors to a 7-0 lead.
 
Mustangs lock Robyn Jeffries made consistently hard tackles and often left rucks on the winning side before going down with an injury with three minutes left in the half. Shortly thereafter, the purple and white scored their first try of season with a march through the Warriors led and touched-down by prop, Meg Gregoris. The score climbed to 5-12, and the Mustangs carried their newfound energy into the second half.
 
The second half of the game proved to be an even match between the two teams. In spite of the ball spending the majority of its time in the purple and white's half, the Mustangs consistently shut down any of the Warriors' attempts at a try. Their strong defensive line demonstrated immense improvement from the start of their season as the girls presented a more cohesive unit.
 
The Warriors snuck in an additional try by lock Emily Curwen with ten minutes left in the half, but not without a quick retaliation from the Mustangs. Flyhalf Charlotte Finlay ran circles around the black and yellow before landing a quick, short pass to hook Marisa Gopalakrishnan who touched it down for the try.
 
Regardless of the loss, the Mustangs finished the game with their spirits high and their all left out on the field. They look forward to their second and final playoff game of the 2019 season, where they will hopefully demonstrate just how far their team has come in this season of rebuilding. The women are set to play on the weekend of October the 11^th, with exact date and opposition TBA.