Lindsay Anderson (with ball) of the Capital Area Curves Lady Gladiators proves she's up to the rough stuff as she is tackled by Laurel MacInnis of the Halifax Xplosion during Sunday's Maritime Women's Football League championship game at Leo Hayes Field. Lady Gladiators won the Maritime title with a 20-8 victory, finishing the season with seven wins in eight games.

Capital Area Curves Lady Gladiators lost their first game of the season on June 11 and didn't lose another enroute to winning the Maritime Women's Football League title yesterday at Leo Hayes High Field.

Lady Gladiators capped off a season which saw them finish 5-1 during the regular campaign and then beat Saint John Buccaneers 22-6 in semifinal play with a 20-8 victory over the Halifax Xplosion in the championship game.

It was the second time they've beaten the Xplosion, having posted a 20-6 victory July 15 also at Leo Hayes Field.

Yesterday it meant a whole lot more as the Lady Gladiators scored first courtesy of a 25-yard touchdown run by Natasha Canning to account for the only points in the first half and ended it when game most outstanding player Jessica Marin scored late in the game from 10 yards out to seal the deal.

In between, the Lady Gladiators saw the Xplosion take an 8-6 lead when the Halifax team took the kickoff to begin the second half and orchestrated a 75-yard scoring drive due mainly to the rushing of Jennifer Hitchcock.

The touchdown play involved a four-yard pass from Meagan Smith to Stephanie Pollock for the major. Hitchcock kicked the two point convert and the Xplosion was ahead.

Both sides played stingy defence, however, the Lady Gladiators finally struck paydirt with about five minutes remaining when Marin scampered around left end, broke about three tackles and rambled in with the touchdown play covering 35 yards. Despite the convert being missed, the Lady Gladiators were now ahead to stay.

They sealed the deal when Julie Coleman intercepted a Smith pass deep in the Xplosion territory, giving the Lady Gladiators the ball at the Halifax 10. Marin would take it over for the insurance marker with quarterback/place kicker Alex Black successfully completing the play with the convert.

Canning was named the outstanding player overall while Marin earned top offensive player of the game laurels. Kelly Martel of Halifax was named the game's top defensive performer.

Overall, Marin was named league most valuable player while Black was named top offensive player. Eight Lady Gladiators were named league all-stars.

Winning the third place game also Sunday were the Moncton Vipers, shutting out the Buccaneers 14-0 in Moncton. Vipers, who handed the Lady Gladiators an 8-6 defeat on opening weekend, had been upset 17-15 by the Xplosion last week in semifinal play.

Alex Black is on a mission in the Maritime Women's Football League, and with one more win she will have accomplished her goal.

Well, truthfully, she has already pretty much done what she set out to do but a win in tomorrow's Maritime final against the Halifax Xplosion would make it all perfect.

Black, the 15-year old quarterback of the Capital Area Curves Lady Gladiators, a senior level team, is fuelled by memories of last year in her quest to be part of a championship team in the league this summer.

"Last year I wanted to play but couldn't," Black recalled from her home in Harvey. "I actually played two games before they said I wasn't eligible to play. I was too young, and the two games I played the team won.

"I was having a really good time and didn't want to have to leave the team but there wasn't anything anybody could do about it. I just decided I would come back this year and really try to do well."

And if she was too young a year ago then she must have matured a lot over the winter. Black has been a major part of the Gladiators - on offence at quarterback and also doing the job at safety on defence.

Black played a big part in the Gladiators 6-1 record, including last week's 22-6 semifinal win over Saint John. Now the Gladiators are a win away from the crown.

"It's a big thing for all of us, but for me personally it would be a nice way to come all the way back from the disappointment of last year," Black said. "I want this to end on a high note."

Tomorrow's game, a 4 p.m. kick-off at Leo Hayes Field, is all just part of a busy week, and the weekend is part of a busy life, for Black who weaves a multi-sport schedule around attending school at Harvey High.

"I have to go away to P.E.I. for soccer and I'll get back just in time for the (football) game," Black said

Besides soccer - at the provincial competitive level, by the way - and football, Black also plays badminton, volleyball and basketball while running cross country and track and field.

And don't ask which sport is her favourite because she isn't sure how to reply.

"I like them all really," she said. "Whichever one I'm playing at the time I guess is my favourite."

Football has been part of that busy life for nine years, most recently as part of the Gladiators but also the bantam lady Black Kats at FHS where she is allowed to play because Harvey High School doesn't have women's football.

"I read about it in the paper years ago," Black said of how she picked up the pigskin game. "Then I saw that girls could play tackle and I really wanted to give it a try. I've been with it ever since playing minor football and working up to where I am now."

As for what it is she likes about the game it comes down to a little bit of everything.

"Mostly I like the physical part of it," she said. "But it's also the pressure, the quickness, having to make decisions, having to think fast and be ready."

As for her current success, she attributes that to two major reasons.

"First of all I've had great coaching all the way," Black said. "Every year my coaches have been supportive and helped me handle whatever pressure comes along. They have been patient teaching me what I need to get better."

And then there's her offensive line when she's quarterbacking.

"They really do take good care of me," she said. "Some of them are quite a bit older than me and they make sure I'm OK. They really do protect me. They talk to me and keep my focused, and they don't let me get down about stuff. I couldn't do a thing without them."

As for the big game itself Black admitted to being a little surprised when she heard it would be the Xplosion that made it through to the final, beating Moncton 17-15.

"I thought we would play Moncton," Black said. "But Halifax is a new team and when we went down to play them early in the year they talked a lot about not having had much practice at that point and how they would be improving, so I suppose that's what happened with them."

Halifax was 2-4 in the regular season, the Gladiators won both of their head-to-head meetings: 18-0 in Halifax in week two and 20-6 at home on the final week of the season.

The Capital Area Curves Lady Gladiators are going to play for a Maritime  women's football league championship on their home field at Leo Hayes High School Sunday.

Lady Gladiators, who went 5-1 during the regular season to earn the top seed billing in the post-season, defeated Saint John Buccaneers 22-6 in semifinal play yesterday at Leo Hayes Field to earn a spot in the final against the Halifax Xplosion, 17-15 winners over Moncton Vipers at Rocky Stone Field yesterday.

The championship game will be played Sunday at 4 o'clock.

Meanwhile, the Capital Area DQ Gladiators were eliminated in the Maritime senior men's semifinal Saturday, falling on the short end of a 25-14 score to the Riverview Mustangs in Riverview.

Mustangs will play the Saint John Wanderers in the provincial final Saturday in Saint John with the winner taking on the Nova Scotia winner for the Maritime title Aug. 12. Dartmouth Knights play Halifax Shockers in the N.S. final.

Natasha Canning's 30-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter got the Lady Gladiators on the board against the Buccaneers. With the Alex Black convert, it was 8-0.

With less than a minute left in the half, Black, who is the quarterback, took off on a bootleg and scampered 20 yards for the score. With her convert, it was 16-0 at the half.

With some three minutes remaining, Saint John got on the board courtesy of a fumble which gave them the ball on the Gladiators' five-yard line. Two plays later, Amanda Craine scored from two yards out. The convert was missed.

Buccaneers tried the onsides kick to no avail. Lady Gladiators took over on the Saint John side of the field and marched down for one final touchdown, that being a 35-yard run by Black. She added the convert to round out the scoring.

In the men's game at Riverview, the Gladiators propensity to self destruct with penalties, bad snaps and turnovers proved costly in the final scheme of things.

A Gladiator fumble on their 25-yard line led to the Mustangs opening score, that being from one yard out courtesy of a Steve Cormier plunge through the line. A facemask penalty on the Gladiators on the five-yard line set up the Cormier TD from the one. Olivier Eddie's convert make it 7-0.

Mustangs would score late in the first half after taking a Gladiator punt to the 40-yard line. Cormier did yeoman-like work rushing the ball, eventually scoring the major from one-yard out.

He also took the ball over on a two-point convert attempt and it was 15-0 at the half.

Cormier scored his third TD of the day on Riverview's first series of the second half and with the Eddie convert, it was 22-0.

Gladiators tried to come back with Andrew Hubbard taking the enusing kickoff to the 45-yard-line. QB Allison Brooks then marched the Gladiators down the field, finally getting it to Andrew Fisher from four yards out for the score. Justin Conn took a pitchout from holder Jeff Taylor and made the two-point conversion, making it 22-8.

Mustangs drove the ball to the Gladiators 25-yard line next time they had the ball, and settled for an Eddie field goal to extend their lead to 25-8.

Gladiators finally hit paydirt in the dying minutes of the game when Brooks hit Jeremy Bigger in the end zone from 10 yards out for the major score. The two-point conversion failed. Gladiators tried the on-sides kick to no avail.

The Capital Area Lady Gladiators staked their claim to contender status in the Maritime  Women's Football League with a resounding 28-8 victory over Moncton Vipers yesterday at Leo Hayes High School Field.

Each team had come into the game sporting 2-1 records with the Lady Gladiators' only loss coming at the hands of the Vipers by an 8-6 score.

But it was an entirely different situation yesterday as Alex Black scored a pair of second half touchdowns, both coming on interceptions, to break open what had been a close game up to that point.

Lady Gladiators were the first to score in this one, with Jessica Marin breaking loose for an 85-yard touchdown gallop in the second quarter. Black converted the TD.

Vipers can back to tie the score just before the half when Lucie LeBlanc pushed the ball in from three yards out.

Marin again played a key role as the Lady Gladiators took control early in the third, setting up a Black quarterback keeper with a 50-yard run. The convert made it 16-8.

That's the way it remained before Black picked off the two passes that went for touchdowns, making it a rout.

Mike Young only took over the coaching reins of the Capital Area Curves Lady Gladiators women's football team because no one else wanted the job.

Now he's glad he's the one in charge of the Maritime Women's Football League club.

"Len Gervais wasn't able to coach the team this year, so they needed somebody," said Young, who coaches the Junior Black Kats and Elite 15 and under teams. "I've been involved in the game around here for a long time," he said. "I refereed for 14 years, I've coached for the past three or four and coached before that. I'm into law school so I'm very busy in the fall..."

That's why he was initially reluctant to put something else on his plate.

"If it wasn't such a positive experience I probably would bail," Young said. "But it is about as good a coaching experience as you could get. They do exactly what you ask them and it's just nice to go back to the basics to help people improve their skill."

The Lady Gladiators meet the Moncton Vipers at 4 p.m. Sunday at Leo Hayes High School Field. First place will be on the line. Both have 2-1 records. The Vipers edged the Gladiators 8-6 in the first game when turnovers determined the outcome.

"We put the ball on the ground nine times," Young said. "That's basically how we lost. We took care of that the next two games." The Gladiators rebounded to blank the Halifax Xplosion 18-0 and the Saint John Buccaneers 32-14.

"Our main workhorse has been Jessica Marin, who's rushed for six touchdowns in three games," Young said.

The standings tightened up when Halifax shut out Moncton 12-0 after losing 8-0 to Saint John, leaving both the Xplosion and Bucs with 1-2 records. "All the teams are really competitive this year," he said. "Halifax has so many people to draw from and they're coming off a big win over Moncton. We got two touchdowns late in the game against Halifax, but they were very tough."

Young likes the way his squad is taking shape. "They're progressing along very well," Young said. "They're very eager to learn and they try hard. We started off with the very basics of the game to give them the foundation. Beyond that, they've picked up the more difficult concepts quite easily." 

An influx of young players has helped. "The biggest thing is girls have come up who've played in the minor association (with boys teams)," he said. "Now they're 16 and they can play with us."

Quarterback Alex Black and defensive back Natasha Canning both played bantam last season. "So they're used to the contact, used to the speed," Young said. "Lindsay Anderson is another one of the 16-year-olds who came out and she gives us a receiving threat. She's a basketball player so she's used to catching the ball with her hands. Every other new player, boy or girl, when they're picking up the game wants to catch the ball with their body."

Black's abilities are an asset too: "Our passing game with Alex is coming. That's what we didn't have last year." Third-year player Courtney Hallett is another Lady Gladiator who benefitted from playing on boys teams when she was younger. 
"That younger group kind of gives us the athleticism," Young said, "and the older players kind of gives us the maturity and focus. "We have three players in their 40s and we have a mother-daughter tandem (in Michelle and Julia Coleman, respectively)."

Young says all the players are supportive of each other and that builds team unity. "They take it very serious," he said, "but it's kind of a different seriousness than the guys. They really want to win, but after the game it's not all talk about the game. 
"They don't take it to the point where it's no longer fun. They don't care about the politics of it. They just want to go out and play some football."

Capital Area hosts Halifax next Saturday, then wraps up the regular season July 22 at Saint John. Semifinals take place the following weekend with the championship game set for Aug. 6.

Young hopes the Lady Gladiators are playing for the title. "We've allowed the fewest points and scored the most," he said, "so I think we do have a real legitimate shot at this. I think we can go offensive-wise with any team and our defence has been holding."

In the Maritime men's league, the Capital Area DQ Gladiators will take on the Saint John Wanderers at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Leo Hayes High School field. Game proceeds will go towards the Lions high school football team.

Natasha Cunning (3), of the Capital Area Lady Gladiators makes the tackle on Kim Justason (8), of the Saint John Buccaneers during Maritime senior women's football league action at Leo Hayes High field. Jessica Marin had a pair of touchdowns to pace the Gladiators, who are now 2-1 in league play. Alex Black ran back a kickoff for a touchdown and also threw for a score to Lindsay Anderson on a play covering 45 yards. Black also added four converts. Next up for the Lady Gladiators is a home game against Moncton Vipers Sunday, July 9 at Leo Hayes Field. Game time is 4 o'clock.