It's always difficult to beat the same opponent in back to back games, but the McMaster women's rugby team handled the York Lions 37-0 in the OUA quarter-finals on Friday night. The victory comes a week after McMaster defeated York 64-7 in the regular season finale to gain homefield advantage in the opening playoff round.

Playing under the lights at Ron Joyce Stadium, the Marauders grabbed an early lead on a penalty goal by Stephanie Black and a try from Heidi Henderson to make the score 10-0 in favour of the Maroon before the game was 10 minutes old. The Marauders continued to pressure the visiting Lions and scored tries by Jenn Lemon and Cindy Nelles to take a 20-0 lead after the first half.

The second half saw more Marauder momentum with Saffara Whitely-Hoffelner, Lauren Crampton and Stephanie Black all crossing the touch-line for McMaster. Black was the top scorer on the night with 12 points.

McMaster put up a stiff defense to stifle the York attack and keep the Lions off the scoreboard.

Currently ranked 9^th in the CIS top-ten, the Marauders now advance to play the Guelph Gryphons in the OUA semifinals on October 19 in Guelph. The Gryphons are ranked second in Canada and finished league play undefeated, but faced their closest challenge from McMaster on September 28, before gaining a 44-27 win. That result should give the Marauders some confidence heading into the semifinal, that they can play with the perennial powerhouse from Guelph.