VANCOUVER – The UBC women's rugby team faces a tough test on home soil entering week three of the Canada West season in search of a third straight win to begin the campaign when they welcome the Calgary Dinos to the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre on Sunday, September 23 at 1 p.m.
The T-Birds will be looking to build off their tremendous defensive effort in last Friday's 22-7 victory over the visiting Lethbridge Pronghorns which saw the hosts add to their humble 5-0 halftime lead by scoring 17 more points after the break.
Second-year centre
Shoshanah Seumanutafa led the way for the 'Birds in scoring 12 points on the strength of two tries while also adding a conversion. Rounding out the scoring was second-year captain
Madison Gold and second-year back row
Lyric Atchison, who each added a try to help the 'Birds improve to 2-0. Seumanutafa's 12-point output was recognized by the CW as proof by her selection as one of the women's three stars of the week.
UBC will have to be sharp against Calgary if they hope to secure a third straight victory as Sunday's opponent comes to town as the two-time defending conference champions who are feeling pretty good about themselves following a galvanizing home win to open the season last Sunday in edging the Alberta Pandas 25-24. The Dinos managed to come back from a 24-15 deficit over the game's final 13 minutes to extend their Canada West win streak to 16 games. It's worth noting that the Dinos last regular season loss was all the way back in September, 2014 where they dropped a decision to the Thunderbirds.
The Dinos have two-games on tap this weekend as they'll meet the University of Victoria Vikes on Friday before Sunday's meeting with the 'Birds. The hosts will be looking for a measure of payback after their most recent meeting against the Dinos ended in a 44-12 loss last October in the Canada West semifinal in Calgary.
First-year T-Birds head coach
Dean Murten is looking for his squad to take even further steps forward after last week's win over Lethbridge.
"The game against Lethbridge was a tale of two halves," said Murten. "The first half was a tough battle down the middle of the field, then in the second half we got the ball a little wider and caused Lethbridge a few problems. The result showed that the team can defend and this is something we must continue to work on and have pride in the way we defend."
Murten added what he expects from a quality Calgary program.
"I am expecting another physical game from the U of C, they are a very well-coached team and have been one of the best Can West teams for many years," continued Murten. "They have a very dominant forward pack and some great attacking strike runners in the backline.
