The Marauders crossed the end line early and often on Friday, sailing through the first hurdle of the OUA playoffs.

Nine different McMaster players had tries, as the Marauders pounded the Trent Excalibur 70-12 in an OUA quarterfinal at Ron Joyce Stadium.

Although her kicking game went cold in the second half, Sara Svoboda finished as the game's high scorer, with two tries and four converts for a total of 18 points. Her sister Katie also had two tries on the afternoon, as did Saffara Whiteley-Hoffelner, while Cindy Nelles, Kailyn Jones, Christine van Beest, Lauren Walkden, Emily Colwell and Maddy Seatle added single tries.

McMaster will now await the lowest remaining seed from the Shiels Division, to be determined by quarterfinals between the Guelph Gryphons and Laurier Golden Hawks tonight, and the Western Mustangs and Waterloo Warriors tomorrow. Whichever team falls into that category will be hosted by McMaster in an OUA semifinal on Saturday, October 18.

After crossing the line twice in the opening 15 minutes, the Marauders were given a slight scare when the Excalibur touched down and converted in the 22nd to cut their deficit to a single converted try at 14-7.

But that's as close as Trent would get on the day, as the Svoboda twins and van Beest struck for three tries before the first half was up, giving the hosts a 31-7 lead at the break.

Seven more tries followed in the second half, as McMaster pulled away and was able to insert a number of reserves into the game, who contributed well in the later stages.