CALGARY – For the fifth consecutive season, the Lethbridge Pronghorns and Alberta Pandas will face off to decide the Canada West women's rugby championship after both teams won their respective semi-final match-ups to open the Canada West Final Four Friday afternoon at Hellard Field in Calgary's Shouldice Park.

The Horns, who are five-time defending Canada West champions, fought off a valiant Victoria Vikes squad to grab a 31-14 victory in the opener, while the Pandas squeaked out a 10-0 win over a Calgary Dinos team that held the territorial edge but was unable to find the try zone.

Lethbridge and Alberta will meet for the Canada West title Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. MT at McMahon Stadium, while the Dinos and Vikes will face off for bronze at 11 a.m. Sunday morning.

SEMI-FINAL 2: Alberta 10 Calgary 0

Playing the first playoff game in their short three-year history, the University of Calgary Dinos gave the Alberta Pandas all they could handle but came up just short, falling 10-0 in the day's second semi-final.

The Dinos held a distinct territorial advantage for much of the game, and had several opportunities within five metres of the goal line but were unable to punch it in thanks to a solid, stingy Pandas defence.

The game remained scoreless for nearly a half hour before Alberta's Louise Chavarie finally scored a try for the Pandas, and they took a 5-0 lead into the half. Chavarie was carded and sent to the sin bin late in the half, however, giving the Dinos a solid opportunity to open the second with some momentum. However, with forward Alana McEvoy out with an injury, the Dinos were unable to score with the advantage despite several valiant attempts near the goal.

With just 10 minutes remaining in the contest, Chavarie – seemingly refreshed by her forced 10-minute rest on the sidelines – powered through the Calgary defence to score her second try of the game, giving the Pandas what turned out to be an insurmountable 10-0 lead. The field again tilted toward the Dinos late in the second half, but again the Pandas defence held fast and preserved the shutout despite furious Dinos pressure - led by Samantha Crandell.

“We pushed and pushed today, but we just couldn't punch it in,” said Dinos head coach Simon Chi after the game. “Now, we need to rebound and come back against Victoria on Sunday morning.”

The Dinos will face the Vikes at 11 a.m. Sunday for the bronze medal, after which the Pandas take on Lethbridge for the conference banner.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Half
ALTA - Louise Chavarie try, 5-0 ALTA

2nd Half
ALTA - Louise Chavarie try, 10-0 ALTA

SEMI-FINAL 1: Lethbridge 31 Victoria 14

In the first semi-final, the Victoria Vikes held with the powerhouse Pronghorns for a half before Lethbridge began to pull away early in the second half to reach the conference final.

Just five minutes into the game, Lethbridge's Cassandra Orr went flying down the left sideline past several would-be Vikes tacklers to score the first points of the game, and it looked as if the 4-0 Horns were going to run away with it after Sarah Gordon's convert made it 7-0. But just 10 minutes later, Randi Hunter made the first of three penalty goals on the day for Victoria, making it 7-3 – a score that stood up for almost the entire first half.

It stood up, that is, until Kayla Moleschi's try capped off an impressive push by the Horns, one that was almost equaled by the Victoria defence. Molaschi finally crossed the try-line in the waning moments of the half after the Vikes held off several attempts, and it was 12-3 for the Horns at halftime.

The Horns poured it on in the second half, however, beginning with another early try by Orr. Not to be outdone, Moleschi scored a second try of her own just three minutes after Orr's, and Gordon's convert made it 24-3 Lethbridge just nine minutes into the second 40 minutes.

Hunter recorded two more penalty goals for the Vikes, while Gordon scored a beauty try for the Horns midway through the half when she recovered her own kick through in-goal, then converted it to give Lethbridge 31 points.

Victoria finally got into the end zone courtesy Emilie Cooper in the last two minutes of the contest.

It was an impressive effort for the Vikes, who fell 53-0 to Lethbridge in regular season play this season, on a cold and dreary morning in Calgary.

Both teams will look to improve on their performances Sunday at McMahon Stadium in the medal round, when the Vikes take on the host Dinos while Lethbridge will face Alberta for gold.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Half
LETH - Cassandrsa Orr try (Sarah Gordon convert), 7-0 LETH
UVIC - Randi Hunter penalty goal, 7-3 LETH
LETH - Kayla Moleschi try, 12-3 LETH

2nd Half
LETH - Cassandra Orr try, 17-3 LETH
LETH - Kayla Moleschi try (Sarah Gordon convert), 24-3 LETH
UVIC - Randi Hunter penalty goal, 24-6 LETH
LETH - Sarah Gordon try (Sarah Gordon convert), 31-6 LETH
UVIC - Randi Hunter penalty goal, 31-9 LETH
UVIC - Emilie Cooper try, 31-14 LETH

-CW-