Connor Hood, Golden Bears and Pandas Athletics

EDMONTON – The University of Victoria Vikes scored 35 unanswered points, including 21 in the second half, as they captured the 2018 University of Alberta Rugby 7s tournament with a 35-7 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns, Sunday night in the dome at Foote Field.

The Vikes completed a perfect 6-0 record at the tournament, including the convincing win over Lethbridge in the first-place match to take the first event of the 2018 Canada West Women's Rugby 7s Series. Lethbridge finished second with a 3-2-1 record, while the Calgary Dinos scored a last-second try against the UBC Thunderbirds to capture third-place with a 21-17 win.

"We really infected some energy into our game in the second half. We added a couple substitutes for the second, and it injected some pace back into our game." said first-year Vike Paige Farries, who led the tournament with 13 tries, which set a new single-season rugby 7s record. "The Vikes really make you buy into their program. They have an incredible work rate, so it makes you want to work incredibly hard. You want to work hard for your teammates every time you take the field."

Entering as the heavy favourite in the first-place match, Victoria fell behind early to Lethbridge, allowing a try in the first minute. However, the Vikes answered back with a converted try from Farries two minutes later, and didn't look back, scoring once more in the first half, and adding another three tries in the second half. The win was the second for Victoria over Lethbridge, coupled with a 42-14 win the previous day.

"Every team here in Canada West is on the way up, and we just happened to be the best team this week," continued Farries, who scored three of the Vikes five tries in the final. "But we will have to keep improving if we want to replicate this success next tournament. Canada West rugby has never been so strong."

Victoria also went undefeated last year in Edmonton, capturing the inaugural Canada West Rugby 7s Series tournament with a matching 6-0 record.

Calgary fell behind 17-14 to UBC in the final minute of their third-place match, before Breanne Morgan scored her first try of the game with no time left, lifting the Dinos into the bronze medal spot. The Dinos finished with a 3-2-1 record, avenging their 26-14 loss to UBC on Saturday with the thrilling come-from-behind win in the third place match on Sunday.

The host Alberta Pandas defeated the Fraser Valley Cascades for the second time on Sunday in the fifth-place match, finishing their tournament with a 2-4 record after a 52-0 win over UFV. The Pandas outscored the Cascades 104-5 in their two matches, but were unable to beat any other team in the tournament.

The Canada West Rugby 7s Series will now head to Abbotsford, B.C. February 10th and 11th, as the Fraser Valley Cascades host the second of three tournaments this season.

Round 4

Game 10: Victoria Vikes (26) vs. UBC Thunderbirds (7)

Scoring summary:

VIC: 14-12: 26

UBC: 7-0: 7

• VIC try – #5 Emily Belchos (#9 Kara Galbraith Convert) – 7-0
• UBC try – #4 Brooke Bazian (#4 Brooke Bazian Convert) – 7-7
• VIC try – #5 Emily Belchos (#9 Kara Galbraith Convert) – 14-7

Half

• VIC try – #4 Paige Farries (Convert missed) – 19-7
• VIC try – #6 Madeleine Graham (#9 Kara Galhraith Convert) – 26-7

Game 11: Lethbridge Pronghorns (14) vs. Calgary Dinos (14)

Scoring summary:

LET: 7-7: 14

CGY: 7-7: 14

• CGY try – #13 Vanessa Graham (#10 Berlyn Seselja Convert) – 7-0
• LET try – #2 Hailey Driscoll (#4 Caitlin Sears Convert) – 7-7

Half

• CGY try – #8 Emily Tuttosi (#6 Laura Petrillo Convert) – 14-7
• LET try – #1 Abigail Duguid (#5 Hannah Lopez Convert) – 14-14

Game 12: Fraser Valley Cascades (5) vs. Alberta Pandas (52)

Scoring summary:

UFV: 0-5: 5

ALB: 33-19: 52

• ALB try - #14 Heidi Farley (#24 Ali Wicklum Convert) - 7-0
• ALB try - #24 Ali Wicklum (#24 Ali Wicklum Convert) - 14-0
• ALB try - #24 Ali Wicklum (Convert missed) - 19-0
• ALB try - #5 Courtney Holtkamp (#21 Lora Lee Convert) - 26-0
• ALB try - #21 Lora Lee (#21 Lora Lee Convert) - 33-0

Half

• UFV try - #2 Mackenzie Fowler (Convert missed) 33-5
• ALB try - #14 Heidi Farley (Convert missed) - 38-75
• ALB try - #21 Lora Lee (#21 Lora Lee Convert) - 45-5
• ALB try - #15 Heidi Peake (#21 Lora Lee Convert) - 52-5

Round 5

Game 13: UBC Thunderbirds (12) vs. Lethbridge Pronghorns (29)

Scoring summary:

UBC: 12-0: 12

LET: 7-22: 29

• UBC try – #7 Ciara Malone (Convert missed) – 5-0
• LET try – #10 Carolyn McKee (#4 Caitlin Sears Convert) – 7-5
• UBC try – #15 Delaney Aikens (#4 Brooke Bazian Convert) – 12-7

Half

• LET try – #5 Hannah Lopez (#4 Caitlin Sears Convert) – 14-12
• LET try – #2 Hailey Driscoll (Convert missed) – 19-12
• LET try – #4 Caitlin Sears (Convert missed) – 24-12
• LET try – #6 Brittany Orr (Convert missed) – 29-12

Game 14: Fraser Valley Cascades (0) vs. Calgary Dinos (36)

Scoring summary:

UFV: 0-0: 0

CGY: 17-19: 36

• CGY try – #9 Taejah Thompson (#13 Laura Petrillo Convert) – 7-0
• CGY try – #14 Kelcey Leavitt (Convert missed) – 12-0
• CGY try – #13 Laura Petrillo (Convert missed) – 17-0

Half

• CGY try – #5 Alyson MacDougall (#10 Berlyn Seselja Convert) – 24-0
• CGY try – #14 Kelcey Leavitt (Convert missed) – 29-0
• CGY try – #12 Breanne Morgan (#10 Berlyn Seselja Convert) – 36-0

Game 15: Alberta Pandas (5) vs. Victoria Vikes (20)

Scoring summary:

ALB: 0-5: 5

VIC: 15-5: 20

• VIC try – #5 Emily Belchos (Convert missed) – 5-0
• VIC try – #5 Emily Belchos (Convert missed) – 10-0
• VIC try – #10 Jess Neilson (Convert missed) – 15-0

Half

• ALB try - #11 Jamie Braybrook (Convert missed) - 15-5
• VIC try – #10 Jess Neilson (Convert missed) – 20-5

Round 6 - Playoff Round

Fifth-Place Game: Alberta Pandas (52) vs. Fraser Valley Cascades (0)

Scoring summary:

ALB: 33-19: 52

UFV: 0-0: 0

• ALB try - #24 Ali Wicklum (#24 Ali Wicklum Convert) - 7-0
• ALB try - #14 Heidi Farley (#24 Ali Wicklum Convert) - 14-0
• ALB try - #9 Athea Volpe (Convert missed) - 19-0
• ALB try - #15 Heidi Peake (#21 Lora Lee Convert) - 26-0
• ALB try - #12 Aly Andersen (#21 Lora Lee Convert) - 33-0

Half

• ALB try - #5 Courtney Holtkamp (#21 Lora Lee Convert) - 40-0
• ALB try - #13 Ferris Sandboe (Convert missed) - 45-0
• ALB try - #7 Karlie Tkachanko (#21 Lora Lee Convert) - 52-0

Third-Place Match: UBC Thunderbirds (17) vs. Calgary Dinos (21)

Scoring summary:

UBC: 7-10: 17

CGY: 14-7: 21

• UBC try – #15 Delaney Aikens (#4 Brooke Bazian Convert) – 7-0
• CGY try – #14 Kelcey Leavitt (#10 Berlyn Seselja Convert) – 7-7
• CGY try – #6 Laura Petrillo (#10 Berlyn Seselja) – 14-7

Half

• UBC try – #15 Delaney Aikens (Convert missed) – 14-12
• UBC try – #7 Ciara Malone (Convert missed) – 17-14
• CGY try – #12 Breanne Morgan (#10 Berlyn Seselja Convert) – 21-17

First-Place Match: Victoria Vikes (35) vs. Lethbridge Pronghorns (7)

Scoring summary:

VIC: 14-21: 35

LET: 7-0: 7

• LET try – #6 Brittany Orr (#5 Hannah Lopez Convert) – 7-0
• VIC try – #4 Paige Farries (#9 Kara Galbraith Convert) – 7-7
• VIC try – #4 Paige Farries (#9 Kara Galbraith Convert) – 14-7

Half

• VIC try – #12 Julia Folk (#9 Kara Galbraith Convert) – 21-7
• VIC try – #10 Jess Neilson (#9 Kara Galhraith Convert) – 28-7
• VIC try – #4 Paige Farries (#9 Kara Galbraith Convert) – 35-7

Tournament standings

NOTE: Teams are awarded 4 pts. for a win, 2 pts. for a draw, and 1 pt. for a loss.

Overall series standings

Team / Pts.

VIC---10

LET---8

CGY---6

UBC---4

ALB---2

UFV---1             

About the Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series:

2018 marks the second season of the Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series, which has been made possible thanks to Canada West's partnership with B2ten and Rugby Canada.

Through their joint support, which will include scholarship opportunities for players at all six competing institutions, B2ten and Rugby Canada are committed to helping Canadian female athletes pursue their athletic careers, including an opportunity to progress to the national team.

The Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series champion will be crowned February 25 at the University of Victoria, as determined by cumulative series points.

2018 Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series tournament dates: University of Alberta (Jan. 20-21), University of the Fraser Valley (Feb. 10 and 11) and University of Victoria (Feb. 24 and 25).