(Braedan Willis, Vikes Communications)
VICTORIA- The University of Victoria Vikes women's rugby team shutout the Lethbridge Pronghorns, winning by a score of 20-0 on Sept. 16 at Wallace Field.
Two costly turnovers by the Pronghorns led directly to tries for Vikes forwards Chanelle Edwards-Challenger and McKenzie Pusch. Victoria used a combination of speed and solid defence to help secure the victory.
"Overall our defence was strong, which allowed us to put a lot of pressure on Lethbridge," said Vikes head coach Brittany Waters. "They have some dangerous athletes and our goal was to make sure we stopped them behind the gain line."
The Pronghorns dominated the scrums all game but were unable to generate any points from it.
"Our scrums allowed us to put some pressure but we would turn it over right away," commented Lethbridge head coach Neil Langevin. "We have to learn how to sustain that pressure and learn how we can benefit from our set piece."
The Vikes opened the scoring in the 15thminute of the match. Victoria stole the ball off a Lethbridge lineout at half and marched down the field, Edwards-Challenger would touch the ball down to give the Vikes a 5-0 lead. Shortly after the games opening score, Victoria would once again get the ball into the Lethbridge end goal, but the Pronghorns stood strong and held up the ball preventing the Vikes try.
Despite dominating the scrums all match, Lethbridge was unable to capitalize on several turnovers from Victoria. Two more tries from the Vikes Zoe Goodwin-Sutton and Mckenzie Pusch gave Victoria a 15-0 lead at half time.
The rain started to fall at the beginning of the second half, making it tough for both teams to string together phases of possession. Vikes outside centre Paige Farries used her speed and agility to get through the Pronghorns backline to give her team a 20-0 lead in the 43rdminute. That would be all the Vikes needed to seal the victory.
Victoria will stay at home to take on the Calgary Dinos next weekend on Sept. 22. Lethbridge will host the Alberta Pandas on Sept. 22 as well.
SCORING SUMMARY
VIC 15-5 20
LET 0-0 0
SCORERS
First half
15' – UVic TRY – Chanelle Edwards-Challenger (convert missed) – UVic 5-0
30' – UVic TRY – Zoe Goodwin-Sutton (convert missed) – UVic 10-0
39' – UVic TRY – Mckenzie Pusch (convert missed) – UVic 15-0
Second half
43' – UVic TRY – Paige Farries (convert missed) – UVic 20-0