RUGBY 7s: T-Birds, Dinos perfect after Day 1 of UBC tourney

Credit: Wilson Wong.
Credit: Wilson Wong.
Posted: Mar 02, 2019

Aaron Martin, UBC Athletics

VANCOUVER – After going undefeated on the opening day of the third and final tournament in the Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens series, the host UBC Thunderbirds and Calgary Dinos are the clubhouse leaders heading into the event's final day on Sunday.

Sandwiched between tight 15-7 and 12-10 decisions over the Alberta Pandas and Lethbridge Pronghorns, respectively, the Thunderbirds' best showing of the day came in a dominant 60-0 triumph over the UBC Okanagan Heat. 

UBC's attack was led by Delaney Aikens, who paced the team with a combined total of five tries over the course of the first day. The Thunderbirds also got some additional offence from Kaitlyn Cumming, who recorded three tries.

"We're in a good position," said UBC head coach Dean Murten following the day's final match. "We wanted to go 3-0, and we did that. We struggled at times, started a bit slow in the morning, but had a good game in the middle. Now it's just a matter of focusing on tomorrow again. With Calgary up first, they're a good, strong side, but we really just have to take it one game at a time."

As for the Dinos, they made short work of the Victoria Vikes in their opener on Saturday, winning 22-12. Calgary then earned their own lopsided win over the Heat, beating UBC Okanagan 40-0, before rounding out the day by besting their in-province rival Pandas 17-5.

"Proud of them," said Dinos coach Simon Chi of his squad. "We have a young team, but they learned from their mistakes in the first two legs of the tournament and put those lessons into practice today. We've got two really tough games tomorrow, but we'll how this carries forward. Looking forward to this – it's a really, really competitive year, so anyone can take it and it should be a lot of fun tomorrow.

 Taejah Thompson had seven tries in three matches to lead the Dinos, who also got a pair from Kate Knight.


 Both Victoria (2-1) and Lethbridge (2-1) have a chance to dethrone either Calgary or UBC on the final day after showing well on Saturday, while the Fraser Valley Cascades (1-3), Alberta Pandas (1-3), and UBC Okanagan Heat (1-4) are all out of contention for the tournament's top spot.

 Sunday's first action is set to get underway at 10:06 a.m. at the Thunderbird Stadium, with the Longhorns and Pandas taking centre stage in the day's opener.

 

 

ROUND 1

 

Game 1: UBC Thunderbirds 15, Alberta Pandas 7 

Scoring summary:

UBC: 10-5: 15

ALB: 7-0: 7 

  • UBC try – #6 Kaitlyn Cumming (convert missed) – 5-0
  • UBC try – #4 Delaney Aikens (convert missed) – 10-0
  • ALB try – #8 Courtney Holtkamp (#1 Aline Wicklum convert) – 10-7
    • HALF
  • UBC try – #7 Kally King (convert missed) – 15-7

 

Game 2: Fraser Valley Cascades 24, UBC Okanagan Heat 17

Scoring summary:

UFV: 12-12: 24

UBCO: 7-10: 17 

  • UFV try – #2 Mackenzie Fowler (convert missed) – 5-0
  • UFV try – #4 Elyssa Chalmers (#2 Mackenzie Fowler convert) – 12-0
  • UBCO try – #4 Emma Johnson (#9 Jordanne Sulz convert) – 12-7
    • HALF
  • UFV try – #14 Sophia Belsher (#2 Mackenzie Fowler convert) – 19-7
  • UBCO try – #4 Emma Johnson (convert missed) – 19-12
  • UFV try – #11 Melissa Jongedijk (convert missed) – 24-12
  • UBCO try – #3 Tate Wickham-Foxwell (convert missed) – 24-17

 

Game 3: Calgary Dinos 22, Victoria Vikes 12

Scoring summary:

CGY: 10-12: 22

UVIC: 5-7: 12

  • UVIC try – #1 Gurpreet Dhaliwal (convert missed) – 5-0
  • CGY try – #9 Taejah Thompson (convert missed) – 5-5
  • CGY try – #21 Berlyn Seselja (convert missed) – 10-5
    • HALF
  • UVIC try – #2 Renee Gonzales (#6 Emily Belchos convert) – 12-10
  • CGY try – #12 Emma Newton (#21 Berlyn Seselja convert) – 17-12
  • CGY try – #9 Taejah Thompson convert missed) – 22-12

 

ROUND 2

Game 4: Lethbridge Pronghorns 15, Alberta Pandas 14 

Scoring summary:

LET: 0-15: 15

ALB: 14-0: 14

  • ALB try – #11 Cara Park (#1 Aline Wicklum convert) – 7-0
  • ALB try – #7 Isabella Adatia (#1 Aline Wicklum convert) – 14-0
    • HALF
  • LET try – #7 Hailey Driscoll (convert missed) – 14-5
  • LET try – #5 Caitlin Sears (convert missed) – 14-10
  • LET try – #5 Caitlin Sears (convert missed) – 15-14

  

Game 5: Victoria Vikes 31, Fraser Valley Cascades 15

Scoring summary:

UVIC: 5-26: 31

UFV: 15-0: 15 

  • UFV try – #11 Melissa Jongedijk (convert missed) – 5-0
  • UVIC try – #13 Jordyn Myers (convert missed) – 5-5
  • UFV try – #1 Jaylene Soegard (convert missed) – 10-5
  • UFV try – #11 Melissa Jongedijk (convert missed) – 15-5
    • HALF
  • UVIC try – #12 Madison Aberg (#4 Brooke Bazian convert) – 15-12
  • UVIC try – #12 Madison Aberg (convert missed) – 17-15
  • UVIC try – #14 McKenzie Pusch (#6 Emily Belchos convert) – 24-15
  • UVIC try – #5 Ashah Payson (#6 Emily Belchos convert) – 31-15

  

Game 6: UBC Thunderbirds 60, UBC Okanagan Heat 0

Scoring summary:

UBC: 29-31: 60

UBCO: 0-0: 0 

  • UBC try – #4 Delaney Aikens (convert missed) – 5-0
  • UBC try – #4 Delaney Aikens (convert missed) – 10-0
  • UBC try – #6 Kaitlyn Cumming (convert missed) – 15-0
  • UBC try – #2 Nicole Mallow (#5 Shoshanah Seumanutafa convert) – 22-0
  • UBC try – #5 Shoshanah Seumanutafa (#5 Shoshanah Seumanutafa convert) – 29-0
    • HALF
  • UBC try – #6 Kaitlyn Cumming (#5 Shoshanah Seumanutafa convert) – 36-0
  • UBC try – #8 Emma Feldinger (#5 Shoshanah Seumanutafa convert) – 43-0
  • UBC try – #4 Delaney Aikens (convert missed) – 48-0
  • UBC try – #10 Madison Blusson (convert missed) – 53-0
  • UBC try – #11 Erin Stewart (#8 Emma Feldinger convert) – 60-0

 

ROUND 3 

Game 7: Alberta Pandas 38, Fraser Valley Cascades 0 

Scoring summary:

ALB: 21-17: 38

UFV: 0-0: 0

  • ALB try – #1 Aline Wicklum (#1 Aline Wicklum convert) – 7-0
  • ALB try – #1 Aline Wicklum (#1 Aline Wicklum convert) – 14-0
  • ALB try – #1 Aline Wicklum (#1 Aline Wicklum convert) – 21-0
    • HALF
  • ALB try – #6 Alexandra Martin (#11 Cara Park convert) – 28-0
  • ALB try – #13 Jessica Koshka (convert missed) – 33-0
  • ALB try – #14 Lora Lee (convert missed) – 38-0

  

Game 8: Calgary Dinos 40, UBC Okanagan Heat 0 

Scoring summary:

CGY: 14-26: 40

UBCO: 0-0: 0 

  • CGY try – #6 Grace Campbell (#21 Berlyn Seselja convert) – 7-0
  • CGY try – #9 Taejah Thompson (#21 Berlyn Seselja convert) – 14-0
    • HALF
  • CGY try – #9 Taejah Thompson (#21 Berlyn Seselja convert) – 21-0
  • CGY try – #11 Kate Knight (#21 Berlyn Seselja convert) – 28-0
  • CGY try – #23 Samantha May (convert missed) – 33-0
  • CGY try – #11 Kate Knight (#14 Tianna Janfield convert) – 40-0

 

Game 9: UBC Thunderbirds 12, Lethbridge Pronghorns 10 

Scoring summary:

UBC: 5-7: 12

LET: 5-5: 10 

  • UBC try – #3 Emily Baker (convert missed) – 5-0
  • LET try – #1 Abigail Duguid (convert missed) – 5-5
    • HALF
  • UBC try – #4 Delaney Aikens (#5 Shoshanah Seumanutafa convert) – 12-5
  • LET try – #9 Abby Neudorf (convert missed) – 12-10

 

ROUND 4 

Game 10: Victoria Vikes 41, UBC Okanagan Heat 7

Scoring summary:

UVIC: 12-29: 41

UBCO: 7-0: 7 

  • UVIC try – #3 Chanelle Edwards-Challenger (convert missed) – 5-0
  • UBCO try – #4 Emma Johnson (#9 Jordanne Sulz convert) – 7-5
  • UVIC try – #14 McKenzie Pusch (#15 Alexie Pusch convert) – 12-7
    • HALF
  • UVIC try – #9 Linnea Dalvi (convert missed) – 17-7
  • UVIC try – #9 Linnea Dalvi (#15 Alexie Pusch convert) – 24-7
  • UVIC try – #9 Linnea Dalvi (convert missed) – 29-7
  • UVIC try – #2 Renee Gonzales (convert missed) – 34-7
  • UVIC try – #9 Linnea Dalvi (#15 Alexie Pusch convert) – 41-7

 

Game 11: Lethbridge Pronghorns 28, Fraser Valley Cascades 5

Scoring summary:

LET: 14-14: 28

UFV: 0-5: 5 

  • LET try – #12 Kansas Long (#5 Caitlin Sears convert) – 7-0
  • LET try – #10 Jillian Tataryn (#5 Caitlin Sears convert) – 14-0
    • HALF
  • LET try – #11 Gwen Fillinger (#5 Caitlin Sears convert) – 21-0
  • UFV try – #2 Mackenzie Fowler (convert missed) – 21-5
  • LET try – #7 Hailey Driscoll (#5 Caitlin Sears convert) – 28-5

 

Game 12: Calgary Dinos 17, Alberta Pandas 5 

Scoring summary:

CGY: 12-5: 17

ALB: 5-0: 5 

  • ALB try – #8 Courtney Holtkamp (convert missed) – 5-0
  • CGY try – #9 Taejah Thompson (#22 Berlyn Seselja convert) – 7-5
  • CGY try – #9 Taejah Thompson (convert missed) – 12-5
    • HALF
  • CGY try – #9 Taejah Thompson (convert missed) – 17-5

 

Tournament standings – Day 1

TEAM   WINS    LOSSES TIES      POINTS

UBC       3          0          0          12

CGY       3          0          0          12

LET      2          1          0          9

UVIC      2          1          0          9

ALB      1          3          0          7

UFV      1          3          0          7

UBCO   0          4          0          4

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

 

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).