NEWS RELEASE
GEORGIAN GRIZZLIES
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The Georgian Grizzlies men’s rugby team hosted the OCAA semi-final match on Saturday afternoon against the visiting Algonquin Thunder at J.C. Massie Field on the Georgian College Barrie campus.
It was Georgian’s first match against an east division opponent this season as the Grizzlies were the OCAA west division champions with a 5-1 record during the regular season.
The Thunder entered the match as the number two seed in the OCAA east division standings also with a 5-1 regular season record. Algonquin earned their spot in the semi-final after defeating the Seneca Sting in a playoff game last weekend at home while Georgian had a direct bye to the semis.
The two teams started off by testing each other as it was their first time playing since the 2015 semi-finals, which the Grizzlies won 24-22 in overtime.
Georgian came out strong and got things started with a strong powerful run by Nathaniel Brown (Everett) who scored his first of two tries in the game to open the scoring.
The Grizzlies continued to battle and were able to pull away with an impressive 46-27 victory.
Jayden Wheeler (Keswick) was a huge difference maker for Georgian scoring a team-high three tries in the game. The Grizzlies other tries were scored by Brandon Inniss (Toronto), Donovan Jacko (Brampton) and Everett Pidgen (Brooklin).
The win gives the Grizzlies a spot in the OCAA Gold Medal final where they will face the Durham Lords next Saturday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. at the Vikings Rugby Club in Oshawa.
This will be the first meeting between the Grizzlies and Lords in men’s rugby as Durham is in their first season back playing in the OCAA.
Georgian are guaranteed to earn an OCAA medal for the fourth straight season but we will be looking to finish as OCAA champions for the second time in the last three seasons.
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