Connor Hood, Golden Bears and Pandas Athletics
EDMONTON - Third-year Alberta Panda Ali Wicklum scored a pair of tries, while adding a convert on her second score, leading the Pandas to a season-opening 17-10 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns, Sunday afternoon at Foote Field.
Rookie Avery Johnson scored the other Pandas try in the first half, as they home side raced out to an early 17-0 lead after 40 minutes. Abby Duguid and Caitlyn Sears scored for Lethbridge in the second half, whose comeback fell just short in the final minutes.
The win for the Pandas is their first since 2016, following an 0-4 conference season in 2017. The win is also the first of two matches for the Pandas and Pronghorns in the Ric Suggitt Cup. The second match will take place in Lethbridge on September 22nd.
The home Pandas took control of the match early in the first half, holding on the ball inside the Lethbridge 30-yard line. After a pair of stops for Lethbridge inside their own five, the Pandas finally found the endzone in the 19th minute, as Johnson powered her way over goal-line.
Wicklum doubled the Alberta lead in the 23rd minute with the first of her two scores, as she found the edge of the Lethbridge defence and raced in from 20 yards out. The third-year back three gave Alberta a 15-0 lead in the 31st, scoring in almost the exact same way against the Pronghorns. Her successful convert gave Alberta a 17-0 lead at the half.
Lethbridge found their footing midway through the second half, as they were finally able to gain possession and find some holes in the Alberta defence. Dugiud put the Pronghorns on the board with her try in the 61st minute.
Sears cut down the Alberta lead even more in the 72nd minute, as she powered her way in for the try from the two-yard line. However, two consecutive missed converts from Lethbridge had them trailing Alberta 17-10 in the final minutes. The Pronghorns maintained possession over the final eight minutes and into stoppage time, but were unable to get inside the Alberta 10 yard line, as their comeback fell just short.
The Pandas will head on the road for two straight weekends, before returning to Foote Field on October 4th for a match against Calgary. The Pronghorns, meanwhile, will complete their B.C. swing next week, as they visit Victoria and UBC.