BARRIE, Ontario — The Georgian Grizzlies men’s rugby team fell just short of a gold medal, after losing 13-7 to the St. Lawrence Surge in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championship game on Nov. 13.

It was the club’s third straight season making it to the finals, all of which resulted in a silver medal.

The team’s head coach John Daggett said the loss was disappointing, but isn’t letting it overshadow a special season for the Grizzlies.

“There was a lot of emotion after the game as you can imagine, but I think it was the most cohesive team we’ve ever had the privilege of coaching,” Daggett said.

“It’s a great group of young men – there were some nice words said to each other and to the coaches as well. Many of the players said being part of the team was one of the best experiences of their lives.”

The words of gratitude spoken by the players, is something Daggett said, makes the grind well worth the effort.

“When you hear the impact of what being part of a team has on a young person, that’s a victory right there – that’s success,” Daggett said.

Daggett joined the Grizzlies in 2012 and has been an integral piece to building a competitive program.

Under Daggett, the team has medaled six times, including a gold in 2016.

“When we took over the program about nine years ago, a big part of it was to change the culture of the team. We were going to measure success by whether or not players were better people when they left the program,” Daggett said.

“We really didn’t focus on wins and losses, but because we focused on having high standards, winning came from that. Success on the field came from the foundation we built from improving the culture of the team.”

As for the team’s gold medal game, Daggett said the effort was there, but couldn’t overcome the Surge’s outstanding defensive game.

He said the smaller field at St. Lawrence College in Kingston and the wet and muddy conditions also had an impact on the loss.

“There were several inches of mud and we were slogging through it. It worked really well for their (the Surge) style of game and not as well for our style,” Daggett said.

“We made one or two mistakes throughout the game that cost us, but those things happen in a championship rugby game. St. Lawrence is really well coached, they played really well on their field, defended well and are deserving winners.”

Daggett said he expects about 50% of his players to return next season and will lose some key members of his leadership group including Zach Shalovsky, Braidon Foster and Donovan Jacko.

The Grizzlies finished the regular season with a 2-1-1 record, which placed them second in the 2021 OCAA men’s rugby standings.

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