LETHBRIDGE, AB - For the fifth time in six
years the Canada West women’s rugby crown will be decided in
a game that feature the four-time defending Champion Lethbridge
Pronghorns and the Alberta Pandas, after both earned convincing
victories in the two semi-finals today in Lethbridge. The CIS
top ranked Horns downed the UBC Thunderbirds, 36-7 and the fifth
ranked Pandas shutout the Victoria Vikes 46-0 in the second
semifinal.
Semifinal 1: Lethbridge 36 UBC 7
Lethbridge
Tries: Brittany Orr (3), Shannon Court (3)
Converts: Laura Murphy-Burke (3)
UBC
Try: Radha Jain
Convert: Darcy Patterson
Senior Shannon Court and fullback Brittany Orr did all the damage for the Horns, scoring three tries apiece, While Laura Murphy-Burke hit three of 6 converts. Orr opened the scoring just shy of the three minute mark, while Court scored twice before the 25th minute to push the score 17-0. Despite the solid start, it wasn’t as smooth as the early 17-0 lead, dropped balls, poor passing and solid defending by UBC led to a stalled Horns attack and the score remained the same at the half.
The Horns will play in their fifth consecutive Canada West Championship game Sunday at 1:00pm, while the Thunderbirds will face Provincial rival Victoria Vikes in the Bronze medal game
Semifinal 2: Alberta 46 Victoria 0
Alberta
Tries: Karlee Carbert (2), Stacie Becker, Erin Yaskchuk,
Miranda Monty, Erika Strande, Karla Telidetzki, Brittany
Rushfeldt
Converts: Strande (3)
In the second semifinal it did not take long for the Alberta Pandas
to exert their dominance on the Victoria Vikes scoring twice in the
opening five minutes and putting up 29 points in the opening 40
minutes.
The only two teams to claim the conference title will face-off Sunday afternoon for the fifth-time in a Canada West Championship game. In last year’s conference final, the Horns shutout the Pandas 30-0 to win their fourth consecutive conference title and just last week, the Horns scored 26 second half points to earn a 31-18 come from behind victory.
Alberta last beat the Horns during the 2007 seeding
tournament 15-12 in Edmonton. The Pandas also beat the
Pronghorns in both the Canada West final and the CIS final in 2003,
31-12 and 20-3, respectively.
Pronghorns Athletics