Stingers 53, Martlets 5: Stingers capture the 20th annual Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup

Concordia beat their cross-town rivals, start the season 2-0

SportsConor Tomalty — Published September 10, 2024 0 minutes

The Stingers remain undefeated through two matches thus far in the 2024-25 Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec season. 

The Cup match is held annually with the intention of bringing the rugby community together. The game remembers former Stingers rugby player Kelly-Anne Drummond, who was tragically killed in an act of domestic violence by her boyfriend on Oct. 4, 2004. Drummond played for the Stingers between 1999 and 2002. Her mother, Doreen Haddad, supports a scholarship in her honour.

“It’s a really emotional week, to be honest. I think you heard our cheer: One, two, Con U; Three, four, Kelly-Anne. That’s [been] our cheer all week in practice,” said Stingers head coach Craig Beemer. 

“I was actually one of the recipients of the scholarship in 2021,” said Stingers captain Fallon Coulouris. “Since then, the program has been so important to me [...] If I’m going to get this much from the program, I’m going to give as much as I can back.”

The game itself had the Stingers narrowing in on the in-goal area early. Concordia registered three tries in the first 20 minutes from scrum-half Meaghen Comeau, prop Steve Kalaydjian and first-year wing Sarah Montminy. Fullback Madeleine McTavish converted one of three kicks, and the Stingers held a 17-0 lead.

The Stingers’ ability to use the full length of the field led to McTavish adding a try of her own before identical scores from second-year back Olivia Miller. Miller was in the right place at the right time in both scenarios, receiving a pass on the wing with enough space to touch the ball down. With another one-for-three showing off the convert tee from McTavish, Concordia went into halftime up 34-0.

The Martlets finally registered points in the opening minutes of the second half. McGill found a hole in their opponent’s defensive line before running into a wall of maroon and gold on the goalline. Prop Emma Redmond finally broke through, scoring her team’s sole try and five points of the match.

The Stingers turned the tide with their finishers in the game. The collection of first and second years held strong and stacked another three tries from hooker Juliette Lachapelle-Marceau, scrum-half Megan Allard and back Joelle Vallee. With McTavish out of the game, Miller dawned the kicking role and made two of three converts before the final whistle blew. 

“We’ve added a lot of depth this year to the roster,” said Beemer post-game. “It really pushed our senior players to perform [...] The moment your internal competition gets to the level where people are worried about their starting jobs, you’re probably going to improve as a team.” 

The Stingers will be back in action Saturday, Sept. 14 as they head to the University of Ottawa to take on the Gee-Gees. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m.