Box Score 1 SHERBROOKE, Que. – LT Nixon booted through a penalty in the 68^th minute of Saturday's RSEQ University Men's Rugby quarter-final contest to give Bishop's a 15-7 advantage, a lead they did not relinquish as they beat the Sherbrooke Vert et Or. The win on home soil punched the Gaiters ticket to the RSEQ semifinal.
 
On a cool but clear day the Gaiters (4-2-1) renewed hostilities with cross-town foe Sherbrooke (0-7).  Despite the difference in records, Bishop's had only beaten Sherbrooke 19-17 in their lone regular season meeting. Saturday's quarter-final promised to be a scary one for the Gaiters and not just because the squads kicked off on Halloween afternoon.
 
A number of the Gaiters and Vert et Or play club rugby together in the summer and that familiarity seemed to play to the advantage of the underdog early on. A slow start had the teams scoreless through 25 minutes. In the 27^th minute a Vert et Or player was shown to the sin bin will a yellow card. Bishop's took advantage less than three minutes later when Scott Best (Ottawa) capitalized and scored the first points of the game, a try that was converted by Nixon (Hong Kong).
 
Sherbrooke responded by working to regain momentum and punched in a try of their own as the first half came to a close.  A successful conversion meant at halftime the teams were knotted at 7-7.
 
Bishop's didn't allow the bigger Sherbrooke forwards to push them around. Their tactical play and speedy backs took over for most of the second half.  Bishop's constant pressure resulted in a try from Robbie McGovern (Bringham, Que.) in the 44^th minute, although the conversion was unsuccessful.  The Gaiters continued to pressure but could not find pay dirt.  Finally when they were awarded a penalty in the 68^th minute Nixon booted through the three points and made it a two-score contest.  Sherbrooke desperately tried to apply pressure but to no avail and when the referee blew his final whistle Bishop's was on top 15-7.
 
"I think we controlled the game for the most part," said Gaiters head coach Charles Goode. "We need to take advantage of more of our scoring opportunities if we are going to continue to be successful but all in all it was a very good game from us."
 
Watch Coach Goode's complete post-game interview: https://youtu.be/fOucRHHTgq8
 
Next up for the Gaiters they travel to Montreal to face the Carabins on Friday, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. Bishop's beat Montreal (5-2) earlier this year at Coulter Field in the only meeting between the two.  A ticket to the RSEQ Championship will be on the line.  McGill (6-0-1) will host ETS (1-6-0) in the second RSEQ semifinal. ETS stunned the defending RSEQ Champion Concordia Stingers in the other quarter-final on Friday night.
 
Women's Soccer
Tiffany Smith (Oshawa, Ont.) scored twice on Sunday as the Gaiters played their final game of the 2015 RSEQ University soccer campaign but it was not enough as host UQTR found the back of the net on three occasions to stun the Gaiters for their first win of the year.  The Bishop's loss comes on the heels of a 3-0 loss to the Montreal Carabins on Friday night on Coulter Field.  The Gaiters wrap-up their 2015 season with a 0-12-2 mark.
 
Stay up-to-date with everything Bishop's Gaiters at www.gaiters.ca or on social media using @BishopsGaiters.
 
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