EDMONTON - Trailing 22-7 at half time, the Calgary Dinos pulled off a huge comeback with a 26-point second half to upend the six-time defending Canada West champion Lethbridge Pronghorns 33-32 Friday afternoon in the Canada West semi-final.

The win vaults the Dinos into their first-ever Canada West championship game, where they will take on the hometown Alberta Pandas. The winner of that tilt gets the conference banner, the gold medals, and a trip to Nova Scotia for the CIS championship at StFX University.
 
The Dinos, ranked No. 6 in CIS, will meet the No. 4-ranked University of Alberta Pandas on Sunday, October 21 at 1:00 pm for the conference trophy and banner. Calgary is playing in just their second Canada West championship tournament, but is guaranteed their second consecutive medal after winning a bronze in 2011.
 
Calgary got two tries from player of the game Kelcey Leavitt as well as four converts from Katie Scotland. Leah Conforti, Katherine Procyshyn and Brynna Walker also recorded tries.
 
Lethbridge, meanwhile, is off to the bronze medal match on Sunday where they will take on the UBC Thunderbirds at 11:00 am. The loss against Calgary was their first Canada West playoff loss in six years as the No.8 ranked Pronghorns came into the tournament as six-time defending conference champions.
 
They got tries from Kim Leavitt, who was named their Player of the Game, Alex Hendricks, Laura Murphy-Burke, Tiffany Wideen and Coreen Riley. Murphy-Burke also connected on one convert.
 
Their will be a new Canada West title holder on Sunday, but in order to have a chance at it, the upstart Dinos had to rally back from a big deficit, and then fight to the bitter end against the never-quit Lethbridge side.
 
The 'Horns looked every bit the defending champs in the first half against Calgary as they raced out to a 22-7 lead. That half-time score was a sharp contrast to the 31-18 regular season win that the Dinos posted on their southern Alberta opponents, as it appeared Lethbridge had shaken off their 2-2 regular season and were on their way to a seventh-straight championship appearance. Missed opportunities, however, will be what the Pronghorns remember from this game, as they gave up their 15-point half-time advantage and missed a couple of second half converts in a one point loss.
 
Neither side was going down without a fight in this semi-final as they seemed content to exchange hay-makers in a true battle of attrition. The two teams combined to score 36 points in a rollicking second half.
 
Calgary scored twice in the opening 12 minutes of the second half to suddenly lead 26-22.
 
But, almost as quick as they had established that lead, they lost it as the 'Horns responded with a try of their own to jump back in front 27-26.
 
Minutes later, Calgary scored what would be the winning try, including convert, as they took a 33-27 lead late in the game.
 
Lethbridge continued to fight, and when they scored with just two minutes left in the game, it looked like the defending champs just might pull out the win, but the necessary convert attempt sailed about a foot wide on the right hand side, leaving the 'Horns one point back of Calgary and ultimately in the bronze medal match.
 
Calgary will face Alberta at 1 p.m. on Sunday, October 21 at the Ellerslie Rugby Park for the Canada West trophy, while Lethbridge and UBC will contest for bronze at 11 a.m.

SCORING SUMMARY
Lethbridge 22  10 - 32
Calgary         7  26 - 33

Calgary tries: #14 Kelcey Leavitt (2), #10 Leah Conforti, #11 Katherine Procyshyn, and #12 Brynna Walker
Calgary converts: #15 Katie Scotland (4)

Lethbridge tries: #7 Kim Leavitt, #9 Alex Hendricks, #10 Laura Murphy-Burke, #13 Tiffany Wideen and #23 Coreen Riley
Lethbridge convert: #Laura Murphy-Burke

-UC-