Maritime Women's Football League
2008 Game Summaries

Week 2: May 31

The Capital Area Curves Lady Gladiators lost their second game in as many weeks 30-14 to the Halifax Xplosion Saturday at Mackenzie field.

Alex Black had a touchdown and convert for the Lady Gladiators while Connie Timmons accounted for the other major.

The two-time defending champions are winless in Maritime play this season.

Rebuilding mode for Lady Glads

The Capital Area Curves Lady Gladiators are two-time defending Maritime Women's Football League champions.

They sure didn't look like it in last Saturday's season opener.

The rebuilding Lady Gladiators lost 36-0 to Saint John Storm on a sloppy Millidgeville field.

Steve Drisdelle, who was the Gladiators defensive coach, was hastily promoted to head coach just before the regular season started. Mike Young, who had coached the team two years ago, was planning to be back. But he was graduating from law school and couldn't devote the time.

"We essentially had two practices with a new coaching staff and a new system,'' Drisdelle said. "The outcome was a punch in the nose and we got a bloody nose, but we were expecting to have a little bit of a hard time with that (game).''

Even so, it wasn't as lopsided as the score would suggest.

"The score didn't reflect the way the game should have gone," Drisdelle said. "We had five or six turnovers; they only had one. We'd march the ball very well on offence and be knocking on the door, but then we'd have a turnover."

The Gladiators will try to rebound against Halifax Xplosion at 4 p.m. Saturday at Oromocto High School Field. Halifax rallied to beat the visiting Moncton Vipers 16-13 last week.

"It's a big rebuilding year,'' Drisdelle said. "We've lost a lot of our key players for various reasons ... from one joining the RCMP to a couple with work commitments to pregnancies.

"Pregnancy isn't usual an issue in football," he said with a chuckle.

Drisdelle, who played for Moncton High in the early 1990s and has been coaching the bantam boys Black Kats since 2004, was willing to step up on short notice.

"I was only named head coach last Monday," he said. "I was sick to my stomach that day, having to try to pick up the pieces. The thought of us having to take a year off was kind of sickening. Three years ago, I stepped into this having nothing to do in the summer and I've kind of fallen in love with the ladies' idea of football.

"Being one of the first (women's) teams and the first league in Canada, I didn't want to see us go a year without football."

Some 25 players have been getting out on a regular basis. Key returnees include quarterback Alex Black, receiver Lindsay Anderson and Julia Coleman.

"Julia's my lone returning linebacker," Drisdelle said. "I lost four and three of them were all-stars."

Top players on the line are Courtney Hallett, Robyn Neill and team manager Michelle Harrison.

A nice addition is running back Cassie Comeau, who used to play for Saint John. "She's got a great set of wheels,'' Drisdelle said.

Leo Hayes and U-19 rugby player Natasha Canning "will definitely play a big role" when she returns from an injury.

Teams play six games - home and home against the other three - leading up to semifinals on the July 12 weekend.

The third place game for the Friendship Bowl and the championship for the Maritime SupHer Bowl V trophy will both be played July 19.

"It's like a six-game preseason with the main season starting at the end," Drisdelle said. We'll get there."

As two-time reigning champs, though, Drisdelle knows opponents are out to beat the Gladiators.

"We've got a great big target painted on our chest," he said. "We're not loved."