VANCOUVER – Hunter Czeppel scored three tries, while Shoshanah Seumanutafa and Emma Feldinger each had two as the UBC Thunderbirds defeated the Lethbridge Pronghorns 49-15 on a sunny afternoon at the Gerald McGavin Rugby Centre. The T-Birds improve to 2-2 on the season, while the 10th-ranked Pronghorns fall to 1-3 as the Canada West regular season winds down.

The 'Birds opened the scoring in the first minute of action thanks to a blistering run by Madison Gold and a last-second offload by Seumanutafa to Emily Baker to make it 5-0 UBC just 52 seconds in. Feldinger doubled the lead in the eighth minute before the Pronghorns got on the board with a Caitlin Sears penalty kick to make it 10-3. Feldinger then reached across the tryline in the 18th minute for her second try to extend the home team's advantage. Czeppel exploded for a pair of tries 10 minutes apart as the T-Birds began to push the pace and pick apart the Pronghorns. Alayna Scramstad scored the final try of the half for UBC, and Seumanutafa's convert was good to put the 'Birds up 32-3 at halftime. 
 

?? WRUG | Great first half for @UBCWRugby as they lead over @uLethbridge. Score reads 32-3. #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/trRNfdJA6i

— UBC Thunderbirds / @UBCTBirds (@ubctbirds) September 29, 2019

Lethbridge turned it on in the second half - scoring two straight tries by Erin McFadden and Savanna Collison as Sears made both converts to cut into the UBC lead at 32-15 in the 62nd minute. As the Pronghorns began to take control, Seumanutafa responded with back-to-back tries and her second convert to boost the 'Birds and stymie the visiting team's momentum. Czeppel closed out the scoring with a late try to solidify UBC's second victory of the season.

"We knew Lethbridge would be a decent team and we knew we'd have to perform because last week meant nothing," said Murten. "That first half - that's probably the most clinical rugby I've been involved in for a long time...at any level. They did everything right. The second half was a little bit disappointing for the first 10-15 minutes when the Pronghorns came out and put us under pressure, but we weathered the storm, took control again and finished strong."



A huge part of UBC's second-half surge was the performance of Seumanutafa, and Murten knows his team is starting to fire on all cylinders.

"It's what we needed," said Murten. "When you're under pressure, you need big players to step up and do something special. She's a special player who has all the talent and has a bit of magic. The game changed, everyone got their heads up, and away we go again. We've got so many good players out there now - we've got depth and we're in a good position."

The Thunderbirds will finish their Canada West regular season at home in a grudge match against the first-place University of Victoria Vikes on Sunday, October 6, at 1 p.m. PT. 

Lethbridge has two matches remaining, as the Pronghorns host the winless Alberta Pandas on Saturday, October 5, before travelling to Calgary to close out the season against the undefeated Dinos on October 11.