CALGARY – The Lethbridge Pronghorns came out swinging Friday afternoon in the final game of the regular season, recording a 55-14 victory over the University of Calgary Dinos at Hellard Field. 

Lethbridge's Charlie Helland led the game with two tries, followed by Kayleigh Noel, who had three successful conversions on the pitch.

"I don't think it was the performance that we wanted," Calgary head coach Simon Chi said. "There were some strong moments throughout the season that we just wanted to sort of culminate in a final performance for this last game, given that we had some senior athletes that we wanted to send off, but we just didn't play the game that we wanted to."

"It was a tough loss, especially with it being my last year," said Katie Bester, a fourth-year Dinos athlete. "I feel like we worked hard - our forward pack - we've been strong all season and we've been working hard all season. I'm proud of those girls that I get to play with."

With it being the final game of the regular season, the afternoon match-up celebrated the senior athletes graduating this year, one of them being Bester.

"I was lucky enough to get this extra year to play (because of COVID), I feel like just the community here with the Dinos has been amazing, I've never felt more supported on a team before," she said, talking about what it's meant to be a Dino.

"I feel like the one thing that we have as a team is that we all work hard together, we all love each other, and our biggest motto has been that we don't yell at each other on the field. We're here to make each other better, not to make each other feel worse, so I've just loved having that community and having these friends that I'll have for life."

The game started strong for the Dinos, with Bomi Lawal recording the first try of the afternoon barely 60 seconds after kickoff. Larae Benoit was on the move up the right side of the field before handing it off to Lawal, who touched down right under the uprights, leading to a successful conversion from Allysen Stachiw to start the game 7-0.

The home team was quickly put into a hole by the visitors, as the Pronghorns logged three tries and two successful conversions in the first half. It started with Charli Helland breaking through the clump of Dinos defenders at the try line, with Mackenzie Hutten following suit. A successful conversion from Kayleigh Noel on Hutten's try would have the 'Horns take the lead in the 19th minute of play. The first half was closed out by Helland and Noel, with another try and conversion respectively, with the Dinos holding up the 'Horns back-to-back at the try line to contain them to a 19-7 lead after 40 minutes of play.

It wasn't long into the second half when the visitors kept their momentum rolling. In the 42nd minute, Sydney McDonald dashed through Calgary's defense, straight to the try zone, followed by a conversion from Noel. Lethbridge continued to pressure the home team, logging two tries without successful conversions from Zina Umeh and Emily Stewart, creating a 36-7 lead. Pronghorns Millie Teskey then ran up the left side before cutting back in and getting tackled by Dinos' defense, but it wasn't enough as Teskey was within reach of the try zone, touching down and putting them up 43-7, thanks to a Jayda Morrison conversion.

Although Calgary gained another try and conversion in the 71st minute, courtesy of Kenzie McEachern-Shields and Stachiw, it was quickly covered by the 'Horns as Rehema Holaki and Elizabeth LePage touched down in the try zone and closed out with another Morrison convert to end a 55-14 victory.

Looking forward to next season, Chi spoke on the young group that's up-and-coming on the team.

"Now we're at a group where they were young, and now it's the time for them to step up. That is the hope over the next year going into the next season, that they're ready to step up and say 'Yes, I'm now a senior athlete. I'm ready.' Sometimes it takes a little bit of getting the lumps to build that resilience, to get hungry to win, so we have some work to do for sure, but that's part of the process of building."

Added Bester: "I'm so excited for so many of them. I've had the chance to mentor a lot of them, and I've coached a couple in high school, so I'm hoping that just from this season. They just keep getting better and better. I feel like we had lots of positives this year and I just can't wait to watch them do well."

SCORING SUMMARY

         1     2     F
LET  19   36  55  
CGY  7    7   14
 
First Half
2' CGY - #14 Bomi Lawal try (#10 Allysen Stachiw convert) - 7-0 CGY
13' LET - #8 Charli Helland try (convert missed) - 7-5 CGY
19' LET - #5 Mackenzie Hutten try (#10 Kayleigh Noel convert) - 12-7 LET
34' LET - #8 Charli Helland try (#10 Kayleigh Noel convert) - 19-7 LET
 
Second Half
42' LET - #25 Sydney McDonald ((#10 Kayleigh Noel convert) – 26-7 LET
48' LET - #15 Zina Umeh try (convert missed) - 31-7 LET
52' LET - #1 Emily Stewart try (convert missed) - 36-7 LET
58' LET - #11 Millie Teskey try (#12 Jayda Morrison convert) - 43-7 LET
71' CGY - #5 Kenzie McEachern-Shields try (#10 Allysen Stachiw convert) - 43-14 LET
75' LET - #20 Rehema Holaki try (convert missed) - 48-14 LET
80' LET - #2 Elizabeth LePage try (#12 Jayda Morrison convert) - 55-14 LET

-UC-