VICTORIA – The Victoria Vikes women's rugby team pushed the ball over the goal line in 79th minute to secure a 10-5 victory over the UBC Thunderbirds Sunday, Sept. 30 at Wallace Field. Both teams battled the wet conditions all afternoon but it was Vikes forward Kelsey McKinnon who touched the ball down in the dying minutes of the match to give Victoria the win.
 
This match held extra value for the two schools as it counted towards both the Canada West standings and the newly formed rivalry series, the Legends Cup. With the Vikes victory, UBC remains ahead in the series, up 5-3.
 
The game's low score can be credited to the rain and wet field conditions. Both teams struggled to maintain the ball for any length of time before turning it over to the opposition. UBC dominated in ball possession but couldn't convert on any of their opportunities until late in the match.
 
"In weather like this you expect more knock-ons and scrums but we need to be better at dealing with conditions like today," said UBC head coach Dean Murten, in his first year as the full time head coach of the Thunderbirds. " I'm disappointed we were unable to capitalize on a lot of our chances but the positives we can take from this game is the fact we still were getting the ball to the dangerous areas of the field."
 

After today's game, the Vikes and Thunderbirds both sit even in the Canada West standings with records of 2-2 and level on points with 10.
 
UBC carried the play for the majority of the first half but too many knock-ons in key areas of the field stymied their chances to strike early. Victoria spent the majority of the first half defending and were also haunted by the wet conditions. The Vikes were forced to make a strong defensive stand on their goal line late in the first half to keep the T-Birds off the board before the halftime break.
 
Vikes scrum-half Sasha Guedes picked the ball out of the back of a UVic scrum deep inside Thunderbird territory and scored to give her team a 5-0 lead early in the second half. UBC winger Vivianna Johnson scored in the corner in the 70th-minute to tie the game up at 5-5. Shortly after returning to the field from her yellow card penalty, Vikes forward McKinnon muscled her way over the goal line, for the game-winning points.
 

After a tough game against uvic. The gals fall 10-5 with uvic scoring in the last minute. Looking to improve before their game against @UAlberta after the long weekend.

— UBC Women's Rugby (@UBCWRugby) September 30, 2018

Both teams will host Alberta after a Thanksgiving weekend bye. UBC will battle the Pandas on Oct. 12 at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre. Alberta will then face Victoria at Wallace Field two days later.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
VIC        0-10         10
UBC       0-5           5
 
First half
No Score

Second half
46' – UVic TRY – Sasha Guedes (convert missed) – UVic 5-0
71' – UBC TRY – Vivianna Johnson (convert missed) – Tie 5-5
79' – UVIC TRY – Kelsey McKinnon (convert missed) – UVic 10-5
 
Cards
68' – UVic Yellow Card – Kelsey McKinnon