VICTORIA – University of Victoria Vikes centre
Paige Farries put forth a dominating second half performance to help the hosts erase a five-point deficit and eventually edge the UBC Thunderbirds 36-34 in the opening game of the Legends Cup Sunday afternoon at Wallace Field.
The Legends Cup is a season-long series of competitions between the Vikes and Thunderbirds. The rivalry dates back to 1910. The Thunderbirds won the inaugural Legends Cup last season 35-7.
"Paige really turned it on in the second half and the rest of the team followed. We weren't thrilled with how easily we allowed UBC to score in the first half and they all adjusted at half time," said Vikes Head Coach
Brittany Waters. "Paige led the charge, that's for sure."
A fumble recovery in the first few minutes by the Vikes led to a field-long sprint by Farries for the opening try. #12 booted a clean convert.
It didn't take too long for the Thunderbirds to answer. Clean passing deep in the Vikes' end led to a
Madison Gold try. The T-brids missed the convert at the 15 minute mark.
Off the ensuing kickoff, Gillan Boag returned one to the house to put her team up 12-7.
The Thunderbirds scoring blitz continued with 16 minutes remaining in the first half when #12, #1 swung it out to the left sideline and
Beau Schellekens for the try.
The Vikes gained a little momentum heading into halftime with tries from a pair of Zoes. First, it was
Zoe Goodwin-Sutton in the 28
thminute. Seven minutes later it was
Zoe Williams with her first try of the season, temporarily giving the Vikes a two-point lead.
But before the halftime buzzer sounded, the Thunderbirds leading scorer
Shoshanah Seumanutafa punched in her first of two tries to regain the lead.
Seumanutafa got things going in the second half with a try nine minutes into the new frame. Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds, this started a rash of missed converts that eventually came back to bite them in the end. Scoring the tries in the corner impacted their ability to convert the kicks afterwards.
Still running strong in the second half was Farries, who put the Vikes on her pair with a trio of tries. Her final of four scores on the day cemented the Vikes second win of the season.
"Her leadership, experience and speed were on display in the second half. Without her it would have been difficult for us to achieve the same result," said Waters.
The Legends Cup is a season-long series of competitions between the Vikes and Thunderbirds. The rivalry dates back to 1910. The Thunderbirds won the inaugural Legends Cup last season 35-7.
The Vikes (2-0) take on the University of Alberta Pandas Friday, Sept. 20 at Wallace Field. The Thunderbirds return to action Sunday, Sept. 22 to take on the Pandas in Vancouver.
VIC 19-17 -- 36
UBC 24-10 -- 34
SCORING SUMMARY
First half
5' – VIC TRY –
Paige Farries (Madison Aberg convert) – VIC 7-0
15' – UBC TRY -
Madison Gold (convert missed) – VIC 7-5
16' – UBC TRY –
Gillian Boag (convert good) – UBC 12-7
22' – UBC TRY –
Beau Schellekens (convert missed) – UBC 17-7
28' – VIC TRY –
Zoe Goodwin-Sutton – UBC 17-14
35' – VIC TRY –
Zoe Williams – VIC 19-17
40' – UBC TRY –
Shoshanah Seumanutafa – UBC 24-19
Second half
49' – UBC TRY -
Shoshanah Seumanutafa (missed convert) – UBC 29-19
52' – VIC TRY –
Paige Farries (missed convert) - UBC 29-24
55' – VIC TRY –
Paige Farries (missed convert) – Tied 29-29
66'- VIC TRY –
Paige Farries (convert completed) VIC 36-29
70' – UBC TRY –
Hunter Czeppel (missed convert) – VIC 36-34
