VICTORIA – The University of Victoria Vikes women's rugby program is looking to cap off the best regular season in the team's history by hoisting their second Canada West championship this weekend.
A 4-1 record during the Canada West regular season earned the Vikes the No. 2 seed during this weekend's conference championship at the University of Lethbridge.
"Coming off this bye week and a week of training, we're feeling really good about our team and our connection. We've worked out the kinks and we're ready for a great weekend," said Vikes captain
Sasha Guedes.
The Vikes will open their Canada West clash against their rivals, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.
The T-birds finished the regular season in third with a 3-2 record. They split the season series with the Vikes. Each squad defended home turf and won their home game.
In their second game of the season, the Vikes pulled off an incredible comeback against the T-birds at Wallace Field.
The Vikes trailed by 10 with 31 minutes remaining when
Paige Farries took over. The Red Deer product produced three consecutive tries – four total on the day – to lift the Vikes 36-34 over the Thunderbirds.
In the rematch three weeks later, the Thunderbirds led 12-7 at half and didn't look back, as they stymied the Vikes 32-12 on Oct. 6 at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre.
"UBC has a dominant scrum, which was a key factor in that loss in our final regular season game," said Vikes Head Coach
Brittany Waters.
Like most teams at this point in the season, the Vikes are dealing with their fair share of bumps and bruises. But other than some lingering issues, they are feeling strong heading into the weekend with a deep roster.
"Maintaining possession will be key for us this weekend, especially off our set pieces. We will need patience when we have the ball and work our way down the field, and we will need to put them under pressure when they have possession," said Waters.
Last year in the Canada West semis, the Vikes blanked the Thunderbirds 26-0. Obviously a repeat performance would be ideal, but the Vikes will have to find a way to contain Shoshanah Seumanutafa, who recorded two tries during each outing against the Vikes.
"UBC is good at swinging the ball out wide, so if we come up quickly and take away their space early, we'll hopefully be able to shut down their attack," said Guedes.
Should the Vikes hold off the Thunderbirds, they would advance to the final for the fourth-straight season.
In the other semi, the University of Calgary Dinos (5-1) will battle the host Lethbridge Pronghorns (2-4).
The Dinos-Pronghorns tilt is set for noon (Pacific Time) with the Vikes and T-birds squaring off at 2 p.m. (Pacific Time) on Friday afternoon at the U of L Community Stadium. On Sunday, the bronze medal game goes at 10 a.m. (Pacific Time) and the championship follows at noon (Pacific Time). All games are available on CanadaWest.TV, presented by CO-OP.
A birth into the finals punches the Vikes' ticket to a return trip to the U SPORTS national championship, which runs Oct. 30 to Nov. 3 at the University of Ottawa. The Vikes best finish at nationals was in 2015, when they placed fifth.
