EDMONTON – Paige Farries scored a pair of tries late in the first half, leading the University of Victoria to a 24-10 win over the host Alberta Pandas in the tournament final, Sunday afternoon at Foote Field.
 
The Vikes scored three tries in the first half, before adding a fourth in the second, en route to the 14-point win. Victoria finished the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record, winning the season-opening tournament in Edmonton for the third time in four years.
 
"We didn't have a lot of time to prepare, based on mainly weather and the short turnaround from school into this tournament, but we improved each game, we continued to raise the level and had some really outstanding performances from all thirteen players, so I'm really happy," said Vikes head coach Brittany Waters.
 
"[Paige] has so much experience, and just continues to get better as an athlete. She knows how to show up, she knows how to perform, and her speed is world class. When she has time and space, she's unstoppable."
 
Victoria advanced to Sunday afternoon's final after an incredibly tight 10-7 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns.
 
The Pronghorns produced the only score in the first half, when Carolyn Mckee crossed the line.
 
Down 7-0 in the second half, Nicola Smith continued her strong weekend by plunging in for the try. Building off that momentum, the Vikes clinched their spot in the final with another try from Renee Gonzalez.
 
"We had some younger girls on the team this year, but they brought a lot of experience at 7s to the table and that went really well with our returning players," said Waters. "We got contributions from everyone on a very deep roster this weekend and it was exciting to see how we improved as the weekend went on."
 
The Vikes sit first in the Canada West standings with 15 points. The second tournament is scheduled for Feb. 1 and 2 at the University of British Columbia.
 
Sunday score sheets:

Semifinal 1: Victoria Vikes (10) vs Lethbridge Pronghorns (7)
 
Scoring summary:
 

	1	2	T
VIC:	0	10	10
LET:	7	0	7

                                    
LET try - #9 Carolyn Mckee (#10 Caitlin Sears convert) 7-0 LET
HALF
VIC try - #11 Nicola Smith (convert missed) 7-5 LET
VIC try - #2 Renee Gonzalez (convert missed) 10-7 VIC
 
1^stPlace Game: Alberta Pandas (10) vs. Victoria Vikes (24)
 
Scoring summary:
 

	1	2	T
ALB:	5	5	10
VIC:	17	7	24

 
VIC try - #2 Renee Gonzalez (convert missed) 5-0 VIC
ALB try - #6 Savannah Dubien (convert missed) 5-5
VIC try - #13 Paige Farries - (#4 Maggie McKinnon convert) 12-5 VIC
VIC try - #13 Paige Farries - (convert missed) 17-5 VIC
HALF
ALB try - #12 Cassie Jorgenson (convert missed) 17-10 VIC
VIC try - #4 Maggie McKinnon (#9 Sasha Guedes convert) 24-10 VIC


Final Tournament Standings
 

TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS
VIC	5	0	0	15
ALB	4	1	0	12
LET	3	2	0	10
UBC	3	2	0	8
CGY	3	2	0	6
TWU	1	4	0	4
UFV	2	3	0	2
UBCO	0	5	0	1