KINGSTON, Ont. – The St. Lawrence College Vikings men’s rugby team held off a determined Georgian Grizzlies team to win the Division II bronze medal game in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA).

The Vikings edged the Grizzlies 10-8 in front of a hometown crowd that braved windy and chilly conditions on Saturday, Nov. 12.

A day after being named the OCAA Player of the Year, Vikings’ eight-man Eric Jadowski, of Metcalf, Ont., lived up to the billing. He scored the Vikings first try of the game on a short run midway through the first half and was later named Man of the Match.

“It’s nice to end the season on a positive note, even if it’s a bronze-medal,” Jadowski said.
The game was a chance for the Vikings to lift their spirits after a disappointing home loss to Algonquin in the semi-finals a week ago.

But the Grizzlies proved very early in the game that they would be a tough opponent. Although the Vikings pounded the Grizzlies 25-7 in a regular-season game played on the same field on Oct. 15, the visiting team came out much more hungry this time.

Perry Coldrick opened the scoring for the Grizzlies with a penalty kick early in the first half to make it 3-0.

The teams then traded tries, with Jadowski scoring his at the 25-minute mark, and Nick DeRuyte responding for Georgian just three minutes later. Neither kick was converted, as the windy conditions made slicing the uprights nearly impossible.

The eventual-winning try was scored by the Vikings’ Trevor Phillips late in the first half.  He caught a kick short of mid field, found room down the sidelines and rushed all the way to the end zone to give the Vikings a 10-8 lead.

The convert failed and the score remained that way for the rest of the game. The second half was a defensive battle, as neither team could score.

It wasn’t a pretty win for the Vikings, but one they would take.

“It was a messy game,” said hook Tom Carlaw, a graduating player. “But we played good. We had some good, hard rucks. We didn’t give up. The best part of our game was our defence.”

Carlaw said winning bronze was nice, considering the rugby program at St. Lawrence had made some strides. Last year’s team won two games, lost two and tied two in the regular-season. This year, it improved to 3-1-0 in regular-season play.

“This year there was a 10 times improvement from last year’s team,” Carlaw said.

There was optimism all around the field on Saturday, as the Grizzlies didn’t go home disappointed either.

Coach Kevin Gillan said he was happy with the way his team played, even though it lost.

“The boys came prepared to play,” he said. “I was impressed with their effort. They left everything on the field.”

Georgian’s No. 7, Mike Tepera, was named Man of the Match for the losing side.

After the game, a ceremony was held to honour representatives from both teams that won OCAA rugby awards, announced the previous day.

Jadowski was honoured for being named Player of the Year and for being named an OCAA All-Star. The Vikings Alex Shotton was also honoured for being an All-Star and Vikings coach Brad Greenwood was honoured for being named Coach of the Year.

Georgian’s Steve Sasseville was honoured for winning Rookie of the Year and being named an All-Star. Georgian’s Chris Wood was also honoured for being an All-Star.

Source: St. Lawrence College

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