PLAYOFFS

Canada West women's rugby tournament at Lethbridge:

Friday, Oct. 18
Alberta vs. UBC, 11:00 a.m.
Calgary at Lethbridge, 1:00 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 20
Bronze, 11:00 a.m.
Gold, 1:00 p.m.

SUNDAY

#1 Aberta 42 Lethbridge 3

AB tries: Alanna Fittes (2), Jen Cousineau (2), Louise Chavarie, Amee Svatos and Chelsea Guthrie
AB converts: Rebecca Fairbairn (2)
AB penalty goal: Alanna Fittes

by Matt Gutsch, U of Alberta Sports Information

EDMONTON - The CIS #1 Alberta Pandas rugby team closed out the 2013 Canada West rugby season with a convincing 42-3 victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Sunday at Ellerslie Rugby Park.

With the win, Alberta finishes conference play atop the standings with a 4-0 record, and will now enter the Canada West championship tournament as the No.1 seed. Lethbridge, host of the conference championship from October 18-20, ends its regular season with a 1-2-1 record, and in third place in the standings. They'll join Alberta in the conference playoffs, along with Calgary Dinos and the 1-3 UBC Thunderbirds. Only the Canada West championship team will advance to the CIS tournament, Nov 1-3 at Laval in Quebec City.

The Pandas scored early and often on Sunday, and used their big half-time advantage to cruise to the victory. Canada West scoring leader Alanna Fittes scored a pair of tries on Sunday, and added one penalty goal to end her season with 63 total points in four games. Her points, eight tries and 10 successful converts led all major Canada West scoring stats. Jen Cousineau notched a pair of tries as well on Sunday, which gives her four on the season, while Chelsea Guthrie, a 2012 CIS First Team All-Canadian, also picked up her fourth of the season. Amee Svatos and Louise Chavarie also recorded tries for the Pandas.

Lethbridge, winners of six straight Canada West titles between 2006 and 2011, trailed the Pandas 34-0 at half-time, but got on the board when Tiffany Wideen was successful with a penalty goal kick late in the second half. The Pandas added a penalty goal of their own, right at the 80 minute mark, to close out the match at 42-3.

pandas.ualberta.ca

SATURDAY

UBC 63 Victoria 17

UBC scorers: Jen Blume (1), Gabriel Hirdley (1), Cassidy Gale (2), Ciara Malone (3), Annie Arnott (1), Catherine Ohler (2, 5 C, 1 PG)

UVic scorers: Alya Govorchin (1), Jasmyn Niquidet (1), Tiffany Picketts (1), Kara Galbraith (1 C)

by James Nielsen, Vikes Communications

VICTORIA – The Victoria Vikes contested in their final regular season game against UBC, Saturday at Wallace Field. UBC captured the lead early and did not surrender it, rolling to a 63-17 victory.

The Vikes were aiming to finish the season on a high note, but the injury-laden squad could not overcome a UBC team that was looking for their first win of the season and a berth in the Canada West playoffs.
 
The Vikes and Thunderbirds both finish 1-3, but UBC had one more point in the standings to claim the final post-season tournament spot.

Vikes Athletics

FRIDAY

Lethbridge 26 #7 Calgary 26

Scoring
Calgary: Samantha Crandell (1 T), Kate Scotland (1 T, 3 C), Janai Haupapa (1 T), Emily Tuttosi (1 T)

Lethbridge: Tiffany Wideen (1 T, 3 C), Kim Leavitt (1 T), Frederique Tremblay (1 T), Shelby Brennan (1 T)

by Lindsay Franco, U of C Athletics

CALGARY - The Calgary Dinos hosted the one and only game of the Canada West regular season and came out with a 26-26 tie against the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Field 7 on Oct. 4.

The Dinos finished their season with a 2-1-1 record while the Pronghorns will head to Edmonton to take on the Alberta Pandas in their final game of the season.

Calgary was the first team to score on Friday afternoon as Samantha Crandell punched it in on the first possession of the game and teammate Kate Scotland converted for a 7-0 lead.

On the very next possession, Lethbridge's Tiffany Wideen got the first five points for the visiting team. She added the convert for the Pronghorns as well to tie it up. Heading down the field again Lethbridge took the lead 12-7 after Kim Leavitt got through the Dinos defence. Wideen missed the convert. The Pronghorns scored one more time before Calgary took back possession when Shelby Brennan pushed through. Wideen's convert put Lethbridge up 19-7 early in the first half.

Later in the half, the Dinos finally put the pressure on the Pronghorns and Scotland, with a big looping run, touched down in the try zone to close the gap. Her convert was good to get the Dinos within five.

Working in the Pronghorns' end for a long time, Dino Janai Haupapa scored Calgary's third try of the game just before half. Another convert from Scotland allowed the DInos to take the lead 21-19 at halftime.

In the second half, the defence picked up for both teams with possession in both ends of the field. Despite Lethbridge missing a penalty goal for the go ahead points, they marched down the field and Frederique Tremblay got the try. The convert was good as the Pronghorns regained the lead.

With more pressure, the Dinos got a try of their own in the second from Emily Tuttosi. Ending the game in a draw, 26-26.

Calgary will await the results of the final games of the Canada West regular season to see their seeding for the Canada West Championship, taking place Oct. 18-20.

U of C Athletics

Canada West Annual Publication

About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, winning 100 CIS national over the last 10 seasons. Comprised of 17 schools from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada West produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games. canadawest.org / canadawest.tv / @cwuaa on Twitter

A proud member of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS).