VICTORIA - The University of Victoria women's rugby team defeated the University of Lethbridge, 54-5, Sept. 12 on Wallace Field.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Vikes jump out to early lead

• Maelle Reed opened the scoring for the Vikes, finding space around the Lethbridge defender to run the ball in for the try in the fourth minute, putting the Vikes up 5-0.
• Five minutes later, a Vikes scrum led to the ball being picked up by Emily Findlay, who dove over the line for the try. Along with a Kira Peary convert, Victoria went ahead 12-0.
• A quick pass out to Olivia Newsome in the 13th minute led to the third of the day, as Newsome dove over the line to record the score. Adding Peary's second convert, the Vikes went ahead, 19-0.
• Already with four points from two converts, Peary put a try of her own on the board in the 23rd minute, faking out the Lethbridge defenders and creating a lane for her to breakthrough straight to the in-goal area to add five points to the Vikes' lead, 24-0.

Poetker strikes twice to close first half scoring

• Making her first start as a Vike in her debut match, Ivy Poetker scored her first try in the blue and gold in the 29th minute. Open and on the move down the left sideline, Poetker caught the ball on the run and beelined straight for the end zone to record the try and give UVic a 29-0 lead.
• As time ran out in the first half, Poetker struck again, falling on a chip kick from Peary in the end zone for the try, bringing the Vikes' lead to 34-0 at halftime.

Vikes add 10 to the lead before Lethbridge gets on the board

• The Vikes added the first points of the second half in the 45th minute, courtesy of a penalty goal by Peary for the 37-0 lead.
• Marina Skakun and Hadley MacPherson registered their first points of the year in the 68th minute, with Skakun's try on a run out of the scrum and MacPherson's convert bringing the Vikes' lead up to 44-0.
• Lethbridge recorded a try in the 75th minute to cut the Vikes' lead to 44-5.

Hilton and Fry record their first 15s tries to close the game

• First year Charlotte Hilton, in her debut match for the Vikes, gave Victoria 49-5 lead in the 75th minute. Following their lineout maul, the Vikes got the ball to Hilton, who ran it over the line to touch it down for her first career try as a Vike.
• Recording her first try in 15s action for the Vikes, Gwynnie Fry dove through Pronghorn defenders to get the ball down, finalizing the score at 49-5 in favour of the Vikes in the 80th minute of action.

FROM THE FIELD - Ivy Poetker
On the game:
"It was an awesome game. For a lot of us rookies, it's really awesome to get the opportunity to come out and play like this. A lot of us debuted today and have been looking forward to this moment for a really long time. This game went fairly well; we have to raise up our intensity in certain areas. Overall, there were a lot of great moments individually and collectively."

On her first tries:
"It felt amazing. I cried after my first one because it means so much to me to wear the Vikes logo and have this opportunity to debut with literal national and Olympic-level athletes. It means the absolute world to me, and it just felt so cool- I've never had that feeling where I stand up and the girls come and hug you. I really can't put it into words how much it means to me."

WORTH NOTING

• Nine Vikes registered points in the win, led by 12 from Kira Peary (one try, two converts, one penalty goal).
• All seven try-scorers for UVic recorded their first tries of the season in the win.
• Four Vikes made their debuts in the win: Ivy Poetker, Remee Brown, Charlotte Hilton, and Gwen King.
• The Vikes move to 2-0 on the season with the win, while Lethbridge falls to 1-1 with the loss.

UP NEXT
The Vikes host the University of Alberta Thursday, Sept. 19 at 5 p.m. at Wallace Field. Get your tickets here or tune in on Canada West TV.