Tiffany Tse, Dinos Communications

CALGARY – Isla Shill's penalty goal in the waning seconds vaulted the University of Calgary Dinos to a come-from-behind 25-24 win in their rugby season opener Sunday afternoon at UCalgary.

The two-time defending conference champion Dinos came back from a 24-15 deficit over the game's final 13 minutes to extend their Canada West win streak to 16 games, with their last regular season loss coming back in September 2014 at the hands of UBC.

"We certainly struggled in lot of key areas in the game. Our exits were poor, defensively we weren't very sharp,." sSaid Dinos Head Coach Simon Chi. "That being said, they dug deep when it counted. They clawed their way back into the game and found a way to win."

Alberta led 14-10 at the half after a pair of converted tries in the opening 40 courtesy Sydney Kasper and Courtney Holdkamp. Ali Wicklum made both conversions in the opening half for the Pandas, with a pair of unconverted Dinos tries by Taejah Thompson and Kasselle Menin sandwiched in between.
A great start to the new season as the Dinos take the win agains the Pandas. It was a tight game with the Pandas during the second half with a 14-10 lead. The Dinos were down 22-24 just minutes before the game winning penalty goal kicked by Isla Shill, finishing the game off at 25-24.

Alberta extended its lead in the second half with a Savannah Dubien try that made it 19-10The women came in strong with the second, and the third try in the game by Taeyah Thompson and Kaselle Menin. before Tthe Dinos' third try was scored by Berlyn SesslyaSeselja in the 65th minute, and fourth try scored by Hannah Penkala with the conversion taken by Isla Shill.. Just two minutes later, the Pandas extended their lead to nine once again when Alexa Martin scored to make it 24-15.

"We certainly struggled in lot of key areas in the game. Our exits were poor, defensively we weren't very sharp." Said Dinos Head Coach Simon Chi. "That being said they dug deep when it counted. They clawed their way back into the game and found a way to win."

The Dinos' resilience in the second half lead to their win. Hannah Penkala scored just three minutes after the Pandas extended their lead, with Shill adding two crucial points on the convert in the 70th minute. With the Dinos working together and keeping the pressure on the Pandas, they gained possession of the ball just in time for the penalty goaland were awarded the penalty in the final moments, and Shill made no mistake for the game-winning score.

Calgary improves to 1-0 on the season, while Alberta falls to 1-1.

Next the Dinos will play in Victoria against the Vikings Vikes on Friday September Sept. 21st. before facing UBC in Vancouver Sunday, Sept. 23. Alberta is next in action Sept. 22 when they head south to face Lethbridge.

SCORING SUMMARY
FINAL
Alberta 14 10 – 24
Calgary 10 15 – 25

1st Half
ALB – Sydney Kasper try, 8', 5-0 ALB
ALB – Ali Wicklum convert, 8', 7-0 ALB
CGY – Taejah Thompson Try, 14', 7-5 ALB
CGY – Kasselle Menin try, 26', 10-7 CGY
ALB – Courtney Holdkamp try, 32', 12-10 ALB
ALB – Ali Wicklum convert, 32', 14-10 ALB

2nd Half
ALB – Savannah Dubien try, 59', 19-10 ALB
CGY – Berlyn Seselja try, 65', 19-15 ALB
ALB – Alexa Martin try, 67', 24-15 ALB
CGY – Hannah Penkala try, 70', 24-20 ALB
CGY – Isla Shill convert, 70', 24-22 CGY
CGY – Isla Shill penalty goal, 80', 25-24 CGY

-UC-

Photo by David Moll