HAMILTON - The McMaster women's rugby team opened the 2023 OUA season at Ron Joyce Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It was the visiting Western Mustangs who came away with the win, defeating the home town Marauders by a 22-10 final.

Prior to the 2023 season opener, it had been a few years since McMaster and Western last faced one another with the last conference meeting taking place on September 29, 2019.

After graduating the majority of last year's starting lineup, the Marauders looked to showcase their determination on Saturday. The visitors came out of the gates strong, scoring the first try of the game while also recording the convert to take an early 7-0 lead. McMaster responded minutes later with an impressive run from Uxbridge local and life sciences major, Taylor Wood. From there, the Mustangs controlled the game, adding three additional tries to extend the lead. Osa Olaye scored a try at the mid-point of the second half but that's as close as the hosts would get, falling to 0-1 on the season.

Next Up 

The Marauders will return to Ron Joyce Stadium for a Friday night match-up with the Guelph Gryphons on September 8 at 7pm.