EDMONTON – For the first time in program history, the University of Victoria Vikes have won the Canada West rugby championship as they claimed the 2015 trophy following a 50-17 victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Sunday afternoon at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
The victory also marks the first time the conference rugby trophy has been awarded to a team outside of the province of Alberta, as the U of A Pandas have held the trophy 10 times since rugby was added as a conference sport in 1999, while Lethbridge won six straight between 2006 and 2011.
After the match the Vikes also conquered the awards ceremony as well, winning all major awards and earning three all-star nods.
Jess Neilson was awarded the MVP after finishing second in regular season points (26), first in converts (13) and first in playoff points (26).
Gabrielle Senft won the Rookie of the Year award for Victoria, while Vikes head coach
Brittany Waters was named Coach of the Year. The Student-Athlete Community Service award was presented to
Shannon Fitzpatrick. The awards sweep was a first for the Vikes program, after making just their second appearance in the conference gold medal game in program history. Their previous gold medal game came in 2002 when they lost 19-0 to Alberta.
They were dominant on Sunday, however, scoring early and often en route to a powerhouse win over Lethbridge.
"We knew we had to score early, and we really came into the game with the right mindset and focused on playing really well right at the start," said Waters after the match. "This was always going to be a tough game, and we prepared to fight for the entire 80 minutes, and I think we really showed our determination and focus today."
The Vikes scored the first try of the game in the eighth minute, as Senft touched the ball down for her second of the playoffs, but they had to overcome Pronghorn surge before the half was out.
Lethbridge tied the game in the 13
th minute, thanks to Frederique Tremblay's second try of the weekend, and then went ahead 10-7 after Sarah Gordon kicked a successful penalty goal.
Victoria had an immediate response however, scoring tries in the 23
rd and 26
th minutes to open up a 19-10 lead, and then banked their fourth try of the half when
Caitlin Harvey touched down in the 33
rd minute.
The trio of tries in a span of 10 minutes seemed to deflate the Pronghorns, and after the halftime break, the Vikes continued to pour it on, getting three more tries in the 42
nd, 54
th and 64 minutes to balloon the score to an insurmountable 43-10 advantage.
Lethbridge added a converted try in the 70
th minute, to make it 43-17, but the Vikes cemented the win just four minutes later when
Sya Trafford crashed into the endzone for the final try of the afternoon.
Seven different Vikes touched the ball down on Sunday as Harvey, Senft and Trafford were joined on the scoresheet by
Nakisa Levale, Channelle Challenger and
Angela Thompson, while Neilson also notched a try. Neilson, in fact, had a stellar Sunday, recording 20 points thanks to six converts and one penalty goal in addition to her try.
"This is amazing," exclaimed Waters. "I'm really proud of this win and our effort today. The girls believed in themselves and this only boosts their confidence. I thought we had a decent shot at playing for the title when we came into the tournament, and we prepared ourselves really well in order to achieve that shot at gold. This victory puts Victoria on the Canada West rugby map, and bodes well for our future."
Nicole Ronsky scored Lethbridge's second try, while Gordon picked up a convert and penalty goal. Samantha Wright also converted for the Horns on Sunday.
Both teams will now head to Kingston, Ontario to represent Canada West at the 2015 CIS championship, hosted by Queen's University over the November 5-8 weekend.
