EDMONTON – For the third straight season, the University of Calgary Dinos are the champions of Canada West women's rugby.
The Dinos claimed the historic threepeat Sunday at Edmonton's Foote Field, defeating the University of Victoria Vikes 27-8 to capture the conference title. Calgary has defeated Victoria in all three championship games during the run.
Calgary heads to the U SPORTS national championship Nov. 1-4 at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., where they're sure to be placed in the top half of the tournament draw.
It's an impressive finish for a young Dinos squad that lost two-time defending Canada West MVP
DaLeaka Menin and a host of other veterans to graduation following their 2017 win. This season they were once again led by a Menin, this time Kasselle – who followed in her older sister's footsteps as the conference's most outstanding player.
"We had some personnel change with some key players leaving, and we had to make sure everyone stepped up and played their role," Kasselle said. "It was about making sure we played as a team every time – whenever we did that, we were unstoppable."
"That was pretty close to the game that we wanted to play, in terms of taking control early and then maintaining a consistent 80 minutes," said Dinos Head Coach
Simon Chi, who earned his third consecutive Canada West coach of the year honour. "We knew it was going to be tough – it was the third year in a row playing UVic, there's not a lot of secrets between the programs, it was really about executing. They had a great season as well, and hopefully both programs are going to represent Canada West well at nationals."
It was Menin that set the tone for the Dinos early in the championship game. With Victoria scoring an early penalty goal to make it 3-0 just two minutes in, Menin went on a long run through the Victoria defence to set up the Dinos' opening try. It was Menin who ended up scoring that try, and the
Elysa Sandron convert made it 7-3 Dinos just five minutes into the contest. Seven minutes later, the Dinos struck again thanks to
Coralyn Cafaro's try, making it 12-3 in the first 12 mintues.
Then, it was the Dinos defence's turn. For the remainder of the opening half, the Vikes put on sustained pressure in Calgary's end of the field, but time and time again the Calgary defence held and sent Victoria back.
The teams exchanged tries early in the second half with
Isla Shill pouncing on a deep Victoria turnover for Calgary to make it 17-3 before the Vikes responded courtesy Ada Okonkwo just four minutes later. The Dinos ramped up the pressure from there, and a penalty goal by Sandron in the 54th minutes stretched Calgary's lead to 20-8.
Cassidy Jones iced the win with her try in the 71st minute, with Sandron picking up a nice wide convert from near the touch line.
The Dinos will now begin preparations for the longest road trip in program history as they get set to head east for the U SPORTS championship – and in their third straight appearance, Menin says the Dinos know what to expect as they head to Wolfville.
"It's stressful and nerve-wracking, there's a lot riding on one game," Menin said of each round in the national tournament. "It's about staying cool and playing rugby – at the end of the day it's just another game, and you have to remember to play your style and just go for it."
"We've come so close in the last couple years, and it does feel like there's some unfinished business," said Chi. "But it's just about playing better in the margins and preparing as well as we can. We have a good week of training ahead, and hopefully we'll do the best we can."
The Canada West championship is the 149th in the University of Calgary's history and extends the school's streak of at least one conference title to 50 consecutive seasons.
FINAL
1 2 F
CGY - 12 15 27
VIC - 3 5 8
SCORING SUMMARY
First Half
2': VIC Penalty Goal - Maddy Aberg - 3-0
5': CGY Try -
Kasselle Menin (
Elysa Sandron convert) 7-3
12': CGY Try -
Coralyn Cafaro (Convert missed) 12-3
Second Half
44': CGY Try -
Isla Shill (Convert missed) 17-3
48': VIC Try - Ada Okonkwo (Convert missed) 17-8
54': CGY Penalty Goal -
Elysa Sandron - 20-8
71': CGY Try -
Cassidy Jones (
Elysa Sandron convert) 27-8
-UC-
