Evan Daum & Connor Hood, Canada West Communications
EDMONTON – The Calgary Dinos and Victoria Vikes will meet in the Canada West Rugby Final for a third consecutive season, after the pair earned semifinal wins Saturday at the 2018 CW Rugby Championship in Edmonton.
In the first semifinal, top-seeded Calgary used a second half try from Kasselle Menin to down the host Alberta Pandas 19-12, while Paige Farries' two tries helped lift Victoria to a 26-0 win over the UBC Thunderbirds in the late game at Foote Field.
The semifinal results setup another Calgary-Victoria matchup in the conference final, as the Dinos enter Sunday's game (1 p.m. MT) the two-time defending Canada West champions. Victoria, meanwhile, will be looking for the program's second conference gold, after their 2015 Canada West title win.
While conference bragging rights will be on the line Sunday, both the Dinos and Vikes know that contest won't be their last this season, as the duo will represent the conference at the U SPORTS Championship November 1-4 at Acadia University in Wolfville N.S.
Along with Sunday's final, the Pandas and T-Birds will square off Sunday morning in the conference bronze medal game, which gets underway at 11 a.m. MT.
Both games can be seen live on CanadaWest.tv.
SEMIFINAL NO. 1: CALGARY (19) vs. ALBERTA (12)
A second-half try from Kasselle Menin broke a 12-12 deadlock, as the Calgary Dinos advanced to the Canada West Final with a 19-12 win over the Alberta Pandas in the first semifinal Saturday at the CW Rugby Championship.
The win was the third for the Dinos over the Pandas this season, who advance to their third-straight conference final. With the win, Calgary also qualified for the U SPORTS national championship Nov. 1-4 at Acadia University.
"That is the goal, you want to be able to represent Canada West at the national championship." said Dinos head coach Simon Chi. "Every time we come here to Edmonton the games seem to get closer and closer. It was a heck of a game. It came down to the last minute, and it was just a matter of digging in, and making right plays at the right time."
The host Pandas, who concluded conference play with a 2-4 record, opened the semifinal the better side. A couple quick passes inside Calgary territory set up fifth-year Panda Alanna Fittes, who raced into the try zone from 20 yards out. A successful convert from Ali Wicklum gave Alberta a 7-0 lead in the eighth minute.
The Dinos stormed back later in the first half, with back-to-back tries giving the No. 1 seed their first lead. Coralyn Cafaro plunged into the Pandas end from three yards out in the 23rd minute, before a convert from Elysa Sandron tied the game at 7-7.
Just four minutes later, Grace Campell extended the Dino lead to 12-7 with a convert of her own.
The Pandas levelled the match late in the first half, with another quick series of passes setting up a long try. Wicklum's long run set up Emily Brown, who raced in for a try from the 35-yard line. A missed convert kept the match squared at 12-12, which held into halftime.
Similar to their regular season meeting two weeks ago, the Dinos controlled possession in the second half, leading to another victory. Kasselle Menin capitalized on the Dinos dominance, restoring the Calgary lead in the 55th minute. Sandron hit her second convert of the match, extending the lead to 19-12.
"You would hope we would've learned from the last game, that we needed to hold on to the ball a lot more." continued Chi. "Still some carless errors in their half, and the Pandas were able to capitalize. It was another tight game. But that's what playoff rugby is all about, it was a great game. We were able to settle in a lot more in the second and get the win."
SCORING SUMMARY
1 2 F
ALB- 12 0 12
CGY- 12 7 19
8': ALB Try - #13 Alanna Fittes (#15 Ali Wicklum Convert) 7-0
23': CGY Try - #7 Coralyn Cafaro (#15 Elysa Sandron Convert) 7-7
27': CGY Try - #12 Grace Campbell (Convert Missed) 12-7
38': ALB Try - #11 Emily Brown (Convert Missed) 12-12
HALFTIME
55': CGY Try - #4 Kasselle Menin (#15 Elysa Sandron Convert) 19-12
SEMIFINAL NO. 2: VICTORIA (26) vs. UBC (0)
Paige Farries couldn't have picked a better time to have her first multi-try game of the season, as the Victoria Vikes earned a 26-0 victory over the UBC Thunderbirds in the second semifinal at the Canada West Rugby Championship in Edmonton on Saturday.
Farries – who scored her lone try of the regular season back on September 16 in a 20-0 win over Lethbridge – posted tries in the 29th and 54th minutes, as Victoria held their West Coast rivals off the board.
A member of Canada's women's sevens team, Farries scored what proved to be the game's winning points on her first try of the game less than 30 minutes in, as Maddy Aberg made good on the convert to give the Vikes a 7-0 lead heading into the half.
After watching the Thunderbirds hold the early territorial edge in the second half, the Vikes pushed back, with Farries busting the game open in the 54th minute thanks to her second try of the afternoon.
The Red Deer, Alta. product increased Victoria's lead with a 40-yard run to the try zone, before Aberg added her second convert of the game, as the Vikes stretched their lead to 14-0.
"It was great to see her sort of play to her potential and just be able to relax and focus on herself. She's had a very big leadership role on this team, and today we just wanted her to play free," Victoria head coach Brittany Waters said of Farries. "The team really stepped up and allowed everyone to have those great individual performances."
Victoria would add two more tries before the game was out, as Nicola Smith and Linnea Davi padded the Vikes lead with scores in the 72nd and 75th minutes respectively.
"We really stuck to our game plan in the second half. In the first half we got off note a little bit, but we came back together and did what we set out to do. The girls kept raising their game in the second half and it resulted in a good score for us," explained Waters.
Thanks to the win, the Vikes will return to the national tournament for the third time in the last four seasons, after a brief one-year hiatus in 2017.
"It was a bit of a heartbreak last year, so especially for the girls who were on the team last year, to have this win and to know we're going to nationals is huge for them, and huge for the program," explained Waters. "We need to refocus for the game on Sunday against Calgary. It's a rematch of last year, so these girls will be very pumped for that."
SCORING SUMMARY
1 2 F
UBC- 0 0 0
VIC- 7 19 26
29': VIC Try #15 Paige Farries (#21 Maddy Aberg Convert) 7-0
HALFTIME
54': VIC Try #15 Paige Farries (#21 Maddy Aberg Convert) 14-0
72': VIC Try #11 Nicola Smith (Convert Missed) 19-0
75': VIC Try #24 Linnea Dalvi (#21 Maddy Aberg Convert) 26-0