RUGBY 7s: Vikes claim second straight CW title

RUGBY 7s: Vikes claim second straight CW title
Posted: Mar 03, 2019

Aaron Martin, UBC Thunderbirds

VANCOUVER – The Victoria Vikes came from behind on Sunday at Thunderbird Stadium, going 3-0 on the closing day of the UBC leg of the 2019 Canada West Women’s Rugby Sevens Series, and claiming both the tournament and series titles in the process. 

It's the second consecutive title for Victoria.

After taking out the Lethbridge Pronghorns 26-19 with a last-second try despite trailing by 19 at halftime, and overpowering the Alberta Pandas 36-5 in their second contest, the Vikes set up a winner-take-all showdown with the host UBC Thunderbirds, who had gone undefeated until that point, in the tournament’s final match.

With the physical battle of a contest tied 5-5 and just over two minutes remaining, a darting run down the right flank by Brooke Bazian proved the difference for Victoria, as her score and her successful ensuing conversion put the Vikes out in front.  

It capped off an impressive performance by Bazian, who led the Vikes with four tries on the day. 

“The final game was very exciting,” said Victoria head coach Brittany Waters. “Both UBC and us have been very strong and consistent throughout the whole series so we knew this was going to be a very, very difficult game. We hadn’t had a great performance this whole tournament, but today, we kept building and leading up to an excellent last performance of the day.”

The day’s final contest put a damper on what was otherwise an excellent tournament for the host Thunderbirds, as they showed the ability to win close games in a 7-5 opener over the previously undefeated Calgary Dinos before shutting out the Fraser Valley Cascades 29-0.

Delaney Aikens had two tries for the Thunderbirds, who got offensive contributions from a variety of players ranging from veteran Nicole Mallow to rookie Kally King. 

With the vast majority of the squad in either their first or second seasons, the strong showing bodes well for UBC moving down the line.

Calgary, the only team to beat Victoria in Vancouver this weekend, placed third in the final tournament of the season with a record of 4-1-1, and fourth in the overall standings with 26 points. 

The Lethbridge Pronghorns went 3-2-1 in Vancouver, and placed third overall with 30 points. 

Alberta placed fifth for the third tournament in a row – and was fifth in the overall standings with 18 points.

Fraser Valley earned sixth spot in both the Vancouver leg and in the overall series (12 points).

UBC Okanagan rounded out the field this weekend in sixth. The Heat also placed sixth for the season with four points.

With files from Braedan Willis (Victoria Vikes Communications)

  

ROUND 5

Game 13: Victoria Vikes 26, Lethbridge Pronghorns 19

Scoring summary:

VIC: 0-26: 26

LET: 19-0: 19 

  • LET try – #2 Carolyn McKee (#5 Caitlin Sears convert) – 7-0
  • LET try – #3 Sara Cline (convert missed) – 12-0
  • LET try – #2 Carolyn McKee (#5 Caitlin Sears convert) – 19-0
    • HALF
  • VIC try – #1 Gurpreet Dhaliwal (#4 Brooke Bazian convert) – 19-7
  • VIC try – #6 Emily Belchos (#6 Emily Belchos convert) – 19-14
  • VIC try – #14 McKenzie Pusch (convert missed) – 19-19
  • VIC try – #12 Madison Aberg (#6 Emily Belchos convert) – 26-19

  

Game 14: Alberta Pandas 29, UBC Okanagan Heat 7

Scoring summary:

ALB: 10-19: 29

UBCO: 7-0: 7 

  • ALB try – #14 Lora Lee (convert missed) – 5-0
  • ALB try – #13 Jessica Koshka (convert missed) – 10-0
  • UBCO try – #4 Emma Johnson (#9 Jordanne Sulz convert) – 10-7
    • HALF
  • ALB try – #6 Alexandra Martin (#10 Heidi Farley convert) – 17-7
  • ALB try – #14 Lora Lee (#11 Cara Park convert) – 24-7
  • ALB try – #13 Jessica Koshka (convert missed) – 29-7

 

Game 15: UBC Thunderbirds 7, Calgary Dinos 5

Scoring summary:

UBC: 7-0: 7

CGY: 0-5: 5 

  • UBC try – #4 Delaney Aikens (#5 Shoshanah Seumanutafa convert) – 7-0
    • HALF
  • CGY try – #12 Emma Newton (convert missed) – 7-5

  

ROUND 6

Game 16: Lethbridge Pronghorns 5, Calgary Dinos 5

Scoring summary:

LET: 5-0: 5

CGY: 0-5: 5 

  • LET try – #7 Hailey Driscoll (convert missed) – 5-0
    • HALF
  • CGY try – #14 Tianna Janfield (convert missed) – 5-5

  

Game 17: Victoria Vikes 36, Alberta Pandas 7

Scoring summary:

VIC: 19-17: 36

ALB: 7-0: 7

  • VIC try – #14 McKenzie Pusch (convert missed) – 5-0
  • VIC try – #4 Brooke Bazian (#4 Brooke Bazian convert) – 12-0
  • ALB try – #8 Courtney Holtkamp (#1 Aline Wicklum convert) – 12-7
  • VIC try – #14 McKenzie Pusch (#6 Emily Belchos convert) – 19-7
    • HALF
  • VIC try – #4 Brooke Bazian (convert missed) – 24-7
  • VIC try – #4 Brooke Bazian (convert missed) – 29-7
  • VIC try – #9 Linnea Dalvi (#15 Alexie Pusch convert) – 36-7

  

Game 18: UBC Thunderbirds 29, Fraser Valley Cascades 0

Scoring summary:

UBC: 15-14: 29

UFV: 0-0: 0

  • UBC try – #5 Shoshanah Seumanutafa (convert missed) – 5-0
  • UBC try – #7 Kally King (convert missed) – 10-0
  • UBC try – #6 Kaitlyn Cumming (convert missed) – 15-0
    • HALF
  • UBC try – #2 Nicole Mallow (#8 Emma Feldinger convert) – 22-0
  • UBC try – #4 Delaney Aikens (#8 Emma Feldinger convert) – 29-0

  

ROUND 7

Game 19: Lethbridge Pronghorns 32, UBC Okanagan Heat 0

Scoring summary:

LET: 17-15: 32

UBCO: 0-0: 0 

  • LET try – #10 Jillian Tataryn (#5 Caitlyn Sears convert) – 7-0
  • LET try – #7 Hailey Driscoll (convert missed) – 12-0
  • LET try – #10 Jillian Tataryn (convert missed) – 17-0
    • HALF
  • LET try – #5 Caitlyn Sears (convert missed) – 22-0
  • LET try – #10 Jillian Tataryn (convert missed) – 27-0
  • LET try – #8 Keegan Branter (convert missed) – 32-0

  

Game 20: Calgary Dinos 26, Fraser Valley Cascades 0

Scoring summary:

CGY: 7-19: 26

UFV: 0-0: 0 

  • CGY try – #7 Coralyn Cafaro (#21 Berlyn Seselja convert) – 7-0
    • HALF
  • CGY try – #10 Alisa Illichova (#21 Berlyn Seselja convert) – 14-0
  • CGY try – #8 Asia Franklin (convert missed) – 19-0
  • CGY try – #8 Asia Franklin (#12 Emma Newton convert) – 26-0

 

Game 21: Victoria Vikes 12, UBC Thunderbirds 5

Scoring summary:

VIC: 5-7: 12

UBC: 5-0: 5 

  • VIC try – #11 Nicola Smith (convert missed) – 5-0
  • UBC try – #3 Emily Baker (convert missed) – 5-5
    • HALF
  • VIC try – #4 Brooke Bazian (#4 Brooke Bazian convert) – 12-5

 

 

Tournament standings – FINAL

TEAM   WINS    LOSSES TIES      POINTS

VIC       5          1          0          21

UBC      5          1          0          21

CGY      4          1          1          19

LET       3          2          1          16

ALB      2          4          0          12

UFV      1          5          0          9

UBCO   0          6          0          6 

NOTE: Teams are awarded four points for a win, two points for a draw, and one point for a loss.

 

Overall series standings

Team / Tourney 1 pts / Tourney 2 pts / Tourney 3 pts / Total pts 

VIC – 10 / 15 / 15 / 40 pts

UBC – 15 / 12 / 12 / 39 pts

LET – 12 / 10 / 8 / 30 pts

CGY – 8 / 8 / 10 / 26 pts

ALB – 6 / 6 / 6 / 18 pts

UFV – 4 / 4 / 4 / 12 pts

UBCO – NA / 2 / 2 / 4 pts

REG – 2 / NA / NA / 2 pts

TRU – 1 / NA / NA / 1 pt

 

About the Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series

2019 marks the third 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, 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 March 3 at the University of British Columbia, as determined by cumulative series points.

2019 Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series tournament dates: University of Alberta (Jan. 19/20), University of the Fraser Valley (Feb. 2/3) and the University of British Columbia (March 2/3).