Ardens rugby squad tops inaugural home tournament

The Swift Current Comp. Ardens rugby team's impressive sophomore campaign continued this weekend as they picked up three straight wins to capture their first ever home tournament.

Saturday was the nicest day of rugby that the Ardens have had this season and started off with a 37-5 win over a team from Saskatoon.

The Ardens got tries from Shelby Beisel, Kelsey Beisel, Lisa Campbell, Chelsie Lowe, and Ammaysha Banman with Chelsie Lowe also making a convert.

Next the Ardens ran their way to a 45-0 victory over Regina Campbell led by a trio of Shelby Beisel tries. Laura Smith, Campbell, and Kelsey Beisel all scored single tries in the win.

Lowe added five converts out of seven attempts.

In their final game the Ardens played against LeBoldus from Regina and earned a 12-0 win on tries from Banman and Lisa Campbell with Lowe adding another convert.

Friday night the Ardens suffered a setback when they hosted a league game against the defending provincial champion Notre Dame Hounds and were unable to defeat the Hounds once again in a 42-0 loss.

"The girls stepped up and played fairly decent in order to win, especially after that performance they had on Friday against Notre Dame which was a bit of a travesty," said head coach Chris Chapman. "It was a good win for the girls, they have been working hard, and they deserve it."

The Ardens finished their inaugural season with a 1-19 record last year, this year the Ardens have already posted nine wins in 19 games.

"I think it is about commitment and it is about having a good coaching staff in place. Rufus and Wyatt have made a huge impact with these girls and just having a master plan in place knowing where we want to go and where we need to go," said Chapman of the drastic improvement of his squad.

Wednesday the Ardens were scheduled to play their final league game in Regina and expect to play in a two versus three seeding game for Southern finals likely against Regina LeBoldus. Should the Ardens advance past that game they would likely face Notre Dame next Wednesday in the Southern Final with a spot at the June 7th provincial final in Saskatoon on the line.

smah@swbooster.com