EDMONTON – It wasn't the first half they had in mind, but the UBC Thunderbirds (3-1) roared to life in the second as they dropped 45 points after halftime to earn a 62-31 victory over the Alberta Pandas (1-4).
Sarah MacPherson, Saylor Pickrell and Belle Rousseau all scored multiple tries, with MacPherson also adding four successful converts. Nine different T-Birds found their name on the scoresheet in all, including substitutes Poppy-Anne Elcock and Maya Nowotny who recorded a try and two converts, respectively.
The scoring started almost immediately, with the visitors striking within the first three minutes when Sara Tehrani took the ball from a scrum and wheeled around to the outside, freezing the defence with a well-timed fake pass to give her the space needed to race into the try zone.
The Pandas struck right back, with a powerful run forward by Kaitlin Tettah-Wayoe setting up a series of goal line pushes that eventually resulted in Mayeling Henry Rodriguez squeezing the ball over the line for the try. That lead only lasted for about eight minutes, however, before Alexis Dobson burst through the middle of the Alberta defensive line for the score. MacPherson's convert made it a five-point lead once again.
Alberta still had an upset on their mind, and for the second time in the first half Henry Rodriguez scored a try to put her team in front. That came after a lung-busting run from Anela Hebert that took the ball from a lineout deep in the Pandas' end all the way down to the UBC five-yard line.
Kate Alcock's penalty kick temporarily put her team up by five, their largest lead of the match, before Rousseau scored to tie things up at 17 points apiece heading into halftime.
Needing to get some sustained momentum going, the Thunderbirds did just that to open up the second half of action. MacPherson struck first with seven points through a try and convert combo. Pickrell then doubled the advantage five minutes later with a try down the right sideline, followed by one from Adia Pye just a few minutes after that, giving their team some breathing room.
The high-scoring second half continued with some strong forward play from Alberta landing their first try since the break through Cassandra Schau. MacPherson then answered back just two minutes later to make it a total of 35 points scored between the two teams in the first 25 minutes of the second half.
A trio of late tries from Rousseau, Pickrell and Elcock finished off UBC's side of the scoring, before Alberta's Ava Lamanna ended the match with a try of her own on the final play before the whistle.
The T-Birds now have just one match remaining in the Canada West regular season, as they will look to get some measure of revenge against the Victoria Vikes on Saturday, October 17 at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre.
Scoring Summary
|
1
|
2
|
F
|
|
ALB
|
17
|
14
|
31
|
|
UBC
|
17
|
45
|
62
|
First Half
3' UBC - #9 Sara Tehrani Try (Convert Missed) 5-0 UBC
9' ALB - #16 Mayeling Henry Rodriguez Try (#15 Kate Alcock Convert) 7-5 ALB
17' UBC - #1 Alexis Dobson Try (#15 Sarah MacPherson Convert) 12-7 UBC
29' ALB - #16 Mayeling Henry Rodriguez Try (#15 Kate Alcock Convert) 14-12 ALB
34' ALB - #15 Kate Alcock Penalty Kick - 17-12 ALB
38' UBC - #13 Belle Rousseau Try (Convert Missed) 17-17
Second Half
47' UBC - #15 Sarah MacPherson Try (#15 Sarah MacPherson Convert) 24-17 UBC
52' UBC - #11 Saylor Pickrell Try (#15 Sarah MacPherson Convert) 31-17 UBC
56' UBC - #14 Adia Pye Try (#15 Sarah MacPherson Convert) 38-17 UBC
62' ALB - #17 Cassandra Schau Try (#15 Kate Alcock Convert) 38-24 UBC
64' UBC - #15 Sarah MacPherson Try (#19 Maya Nowotny Convert) 45-24 UBC
74' UBC - #13 Belle Rousseau Try (#19 Maya Nowotny Convert) 52-24 UBC
77' UBC - #11 Saylor Pickrell Try (Convert Missed) 57-24 UBC
80' UBC - #21 Poppy-Anne Elcock Try (Convert Missed) 62-24 UBC
80' ALB - #4 Ava Lamanna Try (#15 Kate Alcock Convert) 62-31 UBC
