VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds (3-2) scored six tries en route to a 32-12 upset victory over the University of Victoria Vikes (4-1) in a Legends Cup grudge match between the two provincial rivals.
The 'Birds handed the No.5-ranked Vikes their first loss of the season by scoring twenty points in the second half at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre, and finished their regular season with three straight victories.
With the loss, Victoria will finish second in the Canada West with 18 points - as the first place Calgary Dinos (4-1) have 19 points with one game remaining against the Lethbridge Pronghorns (2-3). UBC has also booked a ticket to the Canada West semifinals as the third seed with 17 points.
UBC head coach Dean Murten was proud of his team's performance on home field to end their regular season on a high.
"They were fantastic today," said Murten after the upset victory. "We knew today this was a big one, against the number one team, and the girls came out and did everything we asked. It's nice to have the Legends Cup to play for. This meant so much to the girls to really give us a boost going into the Canada West semifinals. Anybody can beat anybody in this division. It's really tough and UVic is going to be hurting now - just like when we went there and lost. We have a lot of work to do and we're just going to keep going forward."
Move forward they did in the first half on Sunday, as
Emma Feldinger offloaded to
Alayna Scramstad at the try line to open the scoring for the Thunderbirds. Third-year centre
Shoshanah Seumanutafa's convert was good and the T-Birds took a 7-0 lead. Renee Gonzalez drove in the Vikes first try of the match in the 27th minute and Madison Aberg's convert tied it up at 7-7, but Feldinger drove the ball across the try line for a 12-7 UBC advantage at the half.
The 'Birds continued to pressure the Vikes in the second half and in the 53rd minute Kally King darted across the try line to make it 17-7. However, just three short minutes later, Victoria responded with an Aberg try to cut the lead back down to five. UBC fought right back as Seumanutafa scored her team-high seventh try of the season, and five minutes later Gillian Boag gave the 'Birds their largest lead of the match with her first try. Feldinger added her second try of the match in the final minute to secure the 32-12 victory.
Both teams are now off until the Canada West semifinals get underway on Friday, October 18, in Lethbridge.
VIC 7-5 – 12
UBC 12-20 – 32
SCORING SUMMARY
First half
15' – UBC TRY – Alayna Scramstad (Shoshanah Seumanutafa convert) – UBC 7-0
27' – VIC TRY – Renee Gonzalez (Madison Aberg convert) – 7-7
8' – UBC TRY – Emma Feldinger (convert missed) – UBC 12-7
Second half
53' – UBC TRY – Kally King (convert missed) – UBC 17-7
56' – VIC TRY – Madison Aberg (convert missed) – UBC 17-12
61' – UBC TRY – Shoshanah Seumanutafa (convert missed) – UBC 22-12
66' – UBC TRY – Gillian Boag (convert missed) – UBC 27-12
80' – UBC TRY – Emma Feldinger (convert missed) – UBC 32-12
