Playing a playoff match on home field for the first time in six seasons, the Alberta Pandas rugby team overcame some early nerves to beat the UBC Thunderbirds 19-15 in the second semifinal of the Canada West championship, Friday afternoon at the Strathcona Rugby Club just outside of Edmonton.

Alberta, winners of five-straight CIS championships from 1999-2003, got tries from Allison Lamoureux, Alicea Sliwkanich, and Karlee Carbert while Miranda Monty added two converts.

The Thunderbirds got a penalty goal from Maggie Richie and a try from the speedy Radha Jain. Michele Helmeczi added one convert and one drop goal in the loss.

It was Helmeczi's drop goal in the first five minutes of action that started the scoring, as the host Pandas took numerous penalties in the opening first half.

However, 10 minutes after the game's first points by UBC, the Pandas grabbed the lead and never looked back. Third-year prop and Fort Saskatchewan, AB native Alicea Sliwkanich gave the Pandas a 5-3 lead thanks to her try, a lead they would carry into the halftime break.

Lamoureux, a fifth-year prop from Winnipeg, opened that slim lead into a 10-3 advantage and Monty made it 12-3 with her first successful convert on the day.

UBC, already guaranteed a berth into the National championship tournament as hosts, clawed back into the contest when the referee awarded them a penalty goal midway through the second half. Richie, a fifth-year fullback from Vancouver, was given credit for the try, and Helmeczi added the convert for a 12-10 score.

With UBC applying solid pressure on attack and hampering the Alberta offence, third-year Edmonton native and Physical Education and Recreation student Karlee Carbert proved to be the difference-maker when she busted out a 40-yard run for a try.

The fullback was almost tackled on the play, but Carbert fought off the UBC defence, busted through the line, and sprinted 30-yards untouched to get over the touch line for the game winning point.

The game certainly didn't end there though. The T-Birds added a late try to tighten up the score once more.

Jain, from Mississauga, Ont., and Canada's U-20 team, had been terrorizing the Alberta defence all game long with her blazing speed and footwork in the open spaces. Every time she got her hands on the ball, she was a threat to make something happen, and finally converted one of the chances to make it 19-15 late in the second half.

Shortly after that try, the whistle went and sent the Pandas preparing for the conference title match against Lethbridge. Alberta and Lethbridge have met in six of the last eight Canada West title matches, and the Pronghorns will be going for their fourth-straight win. The last time these two titans met in Edmonton was at the 2003 CIS national championship final, which the Pandas won.