EDMONTON – A late try on the final possession of the day by Maori De Jesus-Gilhula capped an exciting season-opening tournament for the University of Calgary Dinos Sunday afternoon inside the Dome at Foote Field.

The Dinos took on a Lethbridge squad in the fifth and final game for both teams over the two days of action. The Pronghorns were looking to not leave empty handed and left everything out on the field, charging to a 17-7 lead at the half. But the Dinos would come back from extinction in the second half, capped off by a 60-yard sprint from De Jesus-Gilhula before the final whistle to secure a comeback win over their provincial rivals. That gave Calgary a fourth-place finish at the tournament with a 2-3 record.

Earlier in the day, the Dinos battled three-time defending Canada West Rugby 7s Champions UBC. Calgary gave the Thunderbirds one of their closest battles of the tournament but never could get things going offensively in a 17-0 loss.

UBC wrapped up the tournament by defeating their rival Victoria 22-7, claiming top spot at the University of Alberta Tournament. It is UBC's fourth time winning the opening stop of the 7s calendar, also winning in Edmonton in 2019, 2023 and 2024.

Leading the charge for the T-Birds was Adia Pye, who recorded a try in nearly every match played, only being held off the scoresheet in their Day 1 win over Trinity Western. Pye's two critical first-half tries in their final victory over Victoria helped solidify the team's 5-0 record, and gave her a total of nine tries on the weekend to lead all players. UBC has now won 30-straight 7s contests, which include a perfect 15-0 record in 2025, and a 10-game win-streak to close out the 2024 season. 

It was a tough day in the dome for the Vikes, having fallen to the Thunderbirds in the final, following an early morning scare against Alberta, who took advantage of a Vikes yellow card in the first half to lead 14-7. However, the Pandas lead would be short-lived as Ivy Poetker would add two more tries to her name, bring her weekend series total to seven, and give the Vikes a 28-14 come-from-behind victory.

Trinity Western placed third behind their provincial rivals, closing out the weekend with a 3-2 record, beating all three Alberta-based teams, including a dominant 38-5 win over Alberta in the afternoon session.

All six teams will have two weeks to rest and strategize before reconvening in Victoria, BC, on February 7th and 8th as the Vikes play host for tournament number two.

RUGBY 7s STANDINGS
 

	TEAM	W	L	POINTS
1	UBC	5	0	20
2	Victoria	4	1	17
3	Trintiy Western	3	2	14
4	Calgary	2	3	11
5	Alberta	1	4	8
6	Lethbridge	0	5	0

* Win - 4 Points / Draw - 2 Points / Loss - 1 Point / No Show - 0 points

ROUND 4

Game 12: UBC (17) vs Calgary (0)
 
Scoring Summary:
 

	1	2	T
UBC	10	7	17
CGY	0	0	0

 
UBC try - #6 Adia Pye (convert missed) 5-0 UBC
UBC try - #10 Lana Dueck (convert missed) 10-0 UBC
HALF
UBC try - #6 Adia Pye (#21 Olivia Sahabura convert) 17-0 UBC

ROUND 5

Game 14: Calgary (21) vs Lethbridge (17)
 
Scoring Summary:
 

	1	2	T
CGY	7	14	21
LET	17	0	17

 
LET try - #14 Millie Teskey (convert missed) 5-0 LET
LET try - #1 Molly Aellen (#11 Jayda Morrison convert) 12-0 LET
CGY try - #11 Makayla Joseph (#9 Maria Florez convert) 12-7 LET
LET try - #3 Seqhiya Simmons (convert missed) 17-7 LET
HALF
CGY try - #3 Larae Benoit (#4 Jada Hepfner convert) 17-14 LET
CGY try - #14 Maori De Jesus-Gilhula (#12 Danyka LaBelle convert) 21-17 CGY

-UC-