EDMONTON – The opening day of the pioneering Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series was an unqualified success as a big crowd turned up and stuffed inside The Dome at Foote Field to watch the historic tournament.
A total of nine games were played on Day 1, in front of a capacity crowd in the newly erected air-supported dome over Foote Field, and the two top teams from the Canada West 15 season, the Victoria Vikes and Calgary Dinos, did not disappoint in sevens play, as they each sit atop the table with identical 3-0 records.
"First off, I'm just really happy," said an elated Matt Parrish, head coach of the University of Alberta Pandas and tournament organizer. "This is awesome. I mean, look around, we're playing a high performance rugby sevens tournament in the middle of January in Edmonton. This has been a great opening day and a great start to rugby sevens at the university level."
The Dinos and Vikes were the cream of the crop in 15s play earlier this season, with Calgary defeating Victoria in the conference gold medal game before going on to collect bronze at the national championship. At the inaugural Canada West rugby seven series, the Vikes picked up victories over host Alberta (26-21), the UFV Cascades (31-5), who are debuting in rugby in conference play this weekend, and the UBC Thunderbirds (31-17). Calgary, meanwhile, earned wins over UFV (40-0), UBC (24-19) and Lethbridge (26-10).
The host Pandas, who fell behind 21-0 to Victoria in opening minutes of the very first game, are 2-1, with wins over the Pronghorns (26-7) and Cascades (38-5), while Lethbridge is 1-2 thus far, and both the Thunderbirds and Cascades are 0-3.
"Today was the first day, you know, and the first day of competition at this level for all the teams, and all the players, and I know that's just going to get better and better from here," said Parrish. "The encouraging part is that this was the first day of the first of three tournaments and there will be more opportunity to develop and get better and advance the athletes, the sport and the league."
Originally announced after the conclusion of the conference rugby 15s season, the Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series is a partnership between the conference, B2ten and Rugby Canada, and is targeted at providing Canadian female student-athletes the opportunity to pursue the game of rugby sevens at home.
The final day of the opening tournament will get underway at 10:00 a.m. MST when the two winless teams, UFV (0-3) and UBC (0-3), meet, followed by Lethbridge (1-2) vs. Victoria (3-0) at 10:25 a.m. and Calgary (3-0) vs. Alberta (2-1) at 10:50 a.m.
Game 2: Calgary Dinos (40) vs. UFV Cascades (0)
Scoring summary:
CGY: 19-21: 40
UFV: 0-0: 0
CGY try – #15 Elysa Sandron (#15 Elysa Sandron Convert) – 7-0
CGY try – #9 Shannon Chisholm (#10 Isla Shill Convert) – 14-0
CGY try – #5 Kasselle Menin (convert missed) – 19-0
Half-time
CGY try - #9 Shannon Chisholm (#15 Elysa Sandron Convert) – 26-0
CGY try – #15 Elysa Sandron (#15 Elysa Sandron Convert) – 33-0
CGY try – #15 Elysa Sandron (#15 Elysa Sandron Convert) – 40-0
Game 5: Calgary Dinos (24) vs. UBC Thunderbirds (19)
Scoring summary:
CGY: 12-12: 24
UBC: 7-12: 19
CGY try – #15 Elysa Sandron (convert missed) – 5-0
UBC try – #4 Brooke Bazan (#4 Brooke Bazlan Convert) – 7-5
CGY try – #15 Elysa Sandron (#15 Elysa Sandron Convert) – 12-7
Half-time
CGY try - #21 Laura Petrillo (convert missed) 17-7
UBC try - #3 Mack Carson (convert missed) 17-12
CGY try - #12 Vanessa Graham (#15 Elysa Sandron Convert) 24-12
UBC try - #1 Mackenzie Lee (#10 Nikki Mallow Convert) 24-19
Game 9: Lethbridge Pronghorns (10) vs. Calgary Dinos (26)
Scoring summary:
CGY: 14-12: 26
LETH: 0-10: 10
CGY try – #15 Elysa Sandron (#15 Elysa Sandron convert) – 7-0
CGY try – #10 Isla Shill (#10 Isla Shill convert) – 14-0
Half-time
LETH try – #6 Carolyn McKee (convert missed) – 14-5
CGY try – #15 Elysa Sandron (#15 Elysa Sandron convert) – 21-5
CGY try – #11 Taejah Thompson (convert missed) 26-5
LETH try – #10 Hailey Driscoll (convert missed) 26-10
Tournament standings
W L T Pts.
VIC 3 0 0 12
CGY 3 0 0 12
ALB 2 1 0 8
LET 1 2 0 4
UFV 0 3 0 0
UBC 0 3 0 0
NOTE: Teams are awarded 4 pts. for a win, 2 pts. for a draw, and 1 pt. for a loss.
About the Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series
2017 marks the first season of the Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series, which has been made possible thanks to Canada West's partnership with B2ten and Rugby Canada. Through their joint support, which will include scholarship opportunities for players at all six competing institutions, B2ten and Rugby Canada are committed to helping Canadian female athletes pursue their athletic careers, including an opportunity to progress to the national team.
The inaugural Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series champion will be crowned February 19 at the University of Victoria, as determined by cumulative series points.
2017 Canada West Women's Rugby Sevens Series tournament dates: University of Alberta (Jan. 20-21), University of Victoria (Feb. 4 and 5) and University of British Columbia (Feb. 18 and 19).
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