PEISAA 2021 Rugby Championships

Charlottetown Rural defeated Three Oaks 7-5 to win the 2021 Senior AAA Men’s Rugby Championship. Bluefield defeated Westisle to take the Bronze.

Ch’town Rural defeated Three Oaks 7-5 to win the 2021 Senior AAA Men’s Rugby Championship. Bluefield defeated Westisle to take the Bronze.

Three Oaks defeated Bluefield 9-7 to win the PEISAA Senior AAA Women’s Rugby Championship. Colonel Gray got by Rural to take the Bronze.

Three Oaks defeated Bluefield 9-7 to win the PEISAA Senior AAA Women’s Rugby Championship. Colonel Gray got by Rural to take the Bronze.

Westisle defeated Kishora 12-11 to claim the 2021 PEISAA Senior AA Women’s Rugby Championship played at Bluefield.

Westisle defeated Kishora 12-11 to claim the 2021 PEISAA Senior AA Women’s Rugby Championship played at Bluefield.

Rural #2 defeated Bluefield to win the 2021 PEISAA Senior A Women’s Rugby Championship. Rural #1 got by Three Oaks to take the Bronze. Rural #2 beat Rural #1 in the semi final and Bluefield defeated Three Oaks to advance to the final.

Rural #2 defeated Bluefield to win the 2021 PEISAA Senior A Women’s Rugby Championship. Rural #1 got by Three Oaks to take the Bronze. Rural #2 beat Ruby

Bluefield defeated Three Oaks to win the 2021 PEISAA Senior A Men’s Rugby Provincial Championship.

Bluefield defeated Three Oaks to win the 2021 PEISAA Senior A Men’s Rugby Provincial Championship.

Three Oaks earns PEISAA girls rugby title with three penalty kicks – Jason Malloy is The Guardian’s sports editor.

HAMPSHIRE, P.E.I. — Katie Acorn kicked the Three Oaks Axewomen to a provincial rugby championship Saturday in Hampshire.

The Grade 11 flanker, in her rookie rugby season, nailed three penalty kicks as Three Oaks defeated the host Bluefield Bobcats 9-7 to win the Prince Edward Island School Athletic Association (PEISAA) senior AAA girls rugby championship.

“It’s amazing,” she said after the victory. “I am going to play next year for sure.”

Acorn said her team played hard and put her in a position to put points on the board. She opened the scoring about 20 minutes into the first half and added another penalty kick just before the half to give the Axewomen a 6-0 lead.

“I was glad to get the first points, get us rolling,” Acorn said.

She had a chance to extend the lead to nine in the second half, but the kick just missed sneaking through the upright.

A few moments later, the P.E.I. F.C. soccer player, who just started kicking for the Axewomen a couple of games ago, had another chance and she nailed it.

“I knew if I scored this one, then even if they scored and got a kick, I knew we would be up,” Acorn explained. “I was tired from hitting the ruck right before and (I was) breathing heavy, but I got it.”

Three Oaks head coach Tim Hockin said it was a key kick under pressure.

“To ask a high school kid to step up and make that with the wind in your face (showed) amazing skill on her part,” he said.

But the Bobcats wouldn’t go away.

They marched down the field and Mariah Buchanan scored a try. Katie Murphy added the convert to cut the lead to 9-7.

They pushed for the go-ahead points with the seconds ticking off the clock, but the Axewomen were able to hold on to capture the banner for the first time since 2018.

“For my girls to stay composed and make those tackles, (I’m) really, really impressed,” Hockin said. “I knew it was going to be a tight game because Bluefield is so well coached, and they have such strong athletes. …

“It was just like a chess game out there.”

Bluefield head coach Ellen Murphy said she was proud of her squad.

“The girls never gave up and honestly, as a coach, that’s all you can ask for,” she said. “Today, we came up a little short. TOSH had a great game. They took advantage whenever we took penalties deep in our end.”

Murphy said they only had two players who had competed at the senior AAA level entering the season.

“It’s exciting for P.E.I. rugby to be able to have this many new players exposed to rugby,” she said.

Charlottetown Rural wins first senior AAA boys rugby title since 2010 – Jason Malloy is The Guardian’s sports editor.

HAMPSHIRE, P.E.I. — The Charlottetown Rural Raiders are back on top of Prince Edward Island School Athletic Association (PEISAA) senior AAA boys rugby for the first time in more than a decade.

Noah Stanley’s try moments into the game and convert by Christos Tentoglou gave Rural a 7-0 lead en route to a 7-5 win over the Three Oaks Axemen Saturday at Bluefield High School. The Raiders last title was in 2010.

Stanley, a six-foot-four, 273-pound Grade 10 student from Charlottetown, said it was his first provincial championship since winning the intermediate basketball title in Grade 7 with the Stonepark Tigers.

“I love it. It gives you a feeling in your chest that you just can’t get rid of,” he said. “I am career football player and I’ve never beaten Summerside in a playoff game.”

Ian Barnes, the first-year head coach of the Raiders, said he was pleased for his players.

“They’ve worked hard all year. They’ve progressed steadily through the year,” he said moments after his players drenched him in water. “They’re a great bunch of lads who have stuck together through everything. I am pumped for them, look how excited they are.”

Three Oaks refused to go away, and Luke Quinlan scored a try with about three minutes to play. A long convert was no good.

“They fought the entire game, punched a try in in the corner and we made a game of it,” Axemen head coach James Voye said.

The Raiders held the size advantage, but also had speed to the outside.

“I think we’re well balanced and the nice thing about our size (is) I feel we have some depth,” Barnes said.

Voye said he was proud of his players.

“They defended really hard being undersized and keeping them to seven points,” he said. “It’s not easy constantly having big kids run into you.”

There was a lot of respect between the two programs.

“Their boys tackled really well, they defended superbly and bravely at times,” Barnes said. “We just couldn’t quite break it open.”

The win snaps a run of four straight provincial championships for Three Oaks.

“I know it’s been a while since Charlottetown Rural has cracked through and won a AAA championship so it’s a big deal for their program to win,” Voye said. “They’ve been hungry, so credit to them.”

The senior AAA boys game was the final team sport of a season like no other due to COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am shocked we are able to have the season,” Stanley said. “It’s been a childhood dream of mine to play rugby because you can’t play until high school and it’s also a childhood dream of mine to win a rugby championship, so I am really, really happy.”

Bluefield defeated Westisle to capture bronze.