It was an offensive showcase that decided the CIS women's rugby final on Sunday, with McMaster coming out on the wrong end of the shootout to settle for silver. St. Francis Xavier enjoyed a three-try day from prop Joanna Alphonso, en route to a 43-34 victory in the national title game.

Fifth-year senior Emma Taylor had two tries and Alison Blanchard added a single for the X-Women in the victory, while Sabrina McDaid kicked for 13 points.

Rookie flanker Katie Svoboda had her best offensive game of the season for McMaster in a losing effort, crossing the end line on three separate occasions. Saffara Whiteley-Hoffelner and Emily Ricketts also had tries for McMaster and Steph Black kicked for nine points.

Four Marauders, Colleen Irowa, Sara Svoboda, Black and Whiteley-Hoffelner were named to the CIS tournament all-star team at the conclusion of Sunday's final.

McMaster's silver medal finish matched the program's best performance at the national championship tournament, having won silver while hosting the inaugural tournament in 1998.

St. FX drew first blood when McDaid made good on a penalty kick in the opening minutes to give the X-Women a 3-0 lead. The Marauders found an answer 15 minutes into the game, when Whiteley-Hoffelner broke free of the St. FX defence and offloaded to Katie Svoboda, who scampered across the end line for McMaster's first try of the afternoon. Black's convert was good, giving the Marauders a 7-3 lead.

Just five minutes later, the X-Women struck back when Alphonso crossed for the first of her three tries on the day, and McDaid made good on the convert to push St. FX ahead 10-7.

McMaster quickly retook the lead minutes later, when Svoboda burned the St. FX defence for her second try. Black's convert was no good, and McMaster held a slim advantage at 12-10. Momentum had swung, and the Marauders cashed in on their very next possession when Whiteley-Hoffelner once again slashed through the St. FX defenders and ran in for a long try. Black converted to extend her team's lead to 19-10.

Late in the opening half, the X-Women engineered a crucial period of possession that yielded two tries in the span of four minutes and shot St. FX ahead 24-19 at the break.

The situation worsened for McMaster when play resumed, as Blanchard broke through the Marauder line along the left and touched down to extend St. FX's lead to 31-19 after a successful convert from McDaid.

Centre Emily Ricketts produced an exceptional run to cut into St. FX's lead, and bring McMaster within an unconverted try of the AUS champions, after a convert from Black made the score 31-26. But the X-Women reclaimed the momentum just minutes later, when Alphonso crossed for her third try to restore the two-score lead at 38-26.

Black elected to kick a penalty with 10 minutes to play, and made good on it to bring McMaster within nine points, but St. FX engineered one final score to put the game beyond reach. Emma Taylor's try with six minutes to play went unconverted, but gave the X-Women a 43-29 lead.

Katie Svoboda capped her excellent afternoon with her third try on what proved to be the final play of the game, but it was too little, too late for McMaster.