VICTORIA, B.C. – The UBC Thunderbirds won the first leg of the Wightman Boot Saturday, using a strong second-half surge to roll to a 45-26 win over the host Victoria Vikes at Wallace Field.
 
The opener of the annual two-game series between the schools saw UVic lead 19-12 at halftime. But after the break, UBC scored 33 points to improve to 5-1 in Premier League action.
 
The Thunderbirds victory also earned UBC two more points in the Legends Cup rivalry series against Victoria.
 

UBC struck first, scoring in the corner to give them the early 5-0 lead.  
 
The Vikes replied with a pair of tries, one converted, to go up 12-5 before Thunderbirds outside centre Ben LeSage, answered back quickly for UBC scoring off a set piece to tie the game up at 12-12. 
 
Victoria prop Gui Costa powered his way over the goal line late in the first half to restore the home side's seven-point leading heading into the break. 
 

Thank you very much for the match @uvicvikes. Tough and very well contested. See you shortly. Congratulations to @UBCRugby on the strong finish and well done on win. Onward.

— Curry Hitchborn (@CurryHitchborn) October 20, 2018

The Thunderbirds came out firing in the second half scoring a try early before scoring two more in the 60th and 63rd minutes to take a 31-19 lead. 
 
Ollie Nott would break the UBC line in the 67th minute to set up Isaac Kaay for his second try of the match, pulling the Vikes back to within a score. 
 
The Thunderbirds, though, crossed the try line twice more to finish the match with a 19-point advantage the team will take into the second leg of the Wightman Boot, which will be contested Jan. 12, 2019 at UBC. 

The T-Birds have a bye next week before returning to action on Saturday, Nov. 3 at home against Burnaby Lake.