UVic Win Opening Tournament of CanWest 7s Season
UVic won the opening tournament of the 2024 CanWest 7s Series in Edmonton. UBC came second. There will be two more tournaments in the series, the next tournament is at UBC, Feb 10-11.
Edmonton, Alta. – The University of Victoria women’s rugby team holds the top spot in Canada West 7s play after going 4-0 at the Edmonton 7s stop hosted by the University of Alberta, Jan. 20-21.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Victoria Vikes (29) vs Alberta Pandas (0)
- Back-to-back tries from Lucie Romeo opened the scoring for the Vikes, and with a convert by Maggie MacKinnon, gave the Vikes a 12-0 lead in the first half.
- Maelle Reed scored two tries in the remaining minutes of the first half, putting the Victoria ahead 24-0 with a second MacKinnon convert at the half.
- Justine Blatt-Janmaat’s second-half try sealed the Vikes’ win over Alberta, 29-0 to open the tournament.
Victoria Vikes (31) vs Lethbridge Pronghorns (5)
- Lucie Romeo accounted for 12 of the Vikes’ 17 points in the first half, scoring two tries and one convert to go along with a try by Maggie MacKinnon for a 17-0 UVic lead at the end of the first half.
- In her 7s debut for the Vikes, Lizzy Marshall opened the second-half scoring with a try. With a convert from MacKinnon, the Vikes went ahead, 24-0.
- Lethbridge put a try on the board to bring the score to 24-5, but a seven-point effort from MacKinnon via try and convert finalized the score at 31-5 for the Vikes to end day one.
Victoria Vikes (26) vs Calgary Dinos (0)
- Maggie MacKinnon and Lucie Romeo each scored a try in the first half for the Vikes, and with a MacKinnon convert, sent the Vikes into the halftime break ahead, 12-0.
- A second try from Romeo along with Maelle Reed’s third try of the tournament paved the way for MacKinnon to put two converts through the uprights and complete the 26-0 win for the Vikes.
Victoria Vikes (28) vs UBC Thunderbirds (10)
- Three different Vikes scored tries in the opening half: Emily Findlay, Lucie Romeo, and Shaye Ogurek.
- Maggie MacKinnon was successful on all three convert attempts in the first half to put the Vikes up 21-0 after the first half of play.
- Justine Blatt-Janmaat’s try and MacKinnon’s fourth convert of the match gave UVic a 28-0 lead heading in to the final minutes of play.
- UBC added two tries in the second half, but the Vikes’ lead remained intact to capture the win, 28-10.
WORTH NOTING
- The Vikes’ final win of the weekend against UBC snapped an 18-game UBC win streak, and marked the Vikes’ first 7s win against the ‘Birds since Feb. 26, 2022, a match which captured the Vikes’ fourth Canada West 7s banner.
- Maggie MacKinnon and Lucie Romeo each finished with 37 points after the first weekend, while MacKinnon led the tournament in converts (11) and Romeo led the conference in tries (7) after the opening stop.
- Maelle Reed and Justine Blatt-Janmaat also added multiple-try weekends for the Vikes with three and two, respectively.
- In all, seven different Vikes scored tries during the opening tournament.
- The Vikes open the 2024 7s season with a 4-0 record.
UP NEXT
The Vikes head to the Vancouver 7s stop at UBC, Feb. 10-11.
FINAL TOURNAMENT 1 STANDINGS
TEAM | W | L | POINTS | |
1 | Victoria | 4 | 0 | 10 |
2 | UBC | 3 | 1 | 8 |
3 | Alberta | 1 | 3 | 6 |
4 | Calgary | 1 | 3 | 4 |
5 | Lethbridge | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Point System: 1st Place – 10 points / 2nd Place – 8 points / 3rd Place – 6 points / 4th Place – 4 points / 5th Place – 2 points
EDMONTON – Snapping a dominant 18-game UBC Thunderbird win streak and claiming the top spot at the first tournament of the Canada West 7s series, the Victoria Vikes earned a 28-10 win over the reigning Canada West Champions on Sunday inside the Dome at Foote Field.
Four different Vikes found a way to split the ‘Birds defenceand tap the ball between the posts, while Maggie MacKinnon took advantage of all four converts to lead 28-0 heading into the second half. With less than three minutes remaining Adia Pye broke loose for a Thunderbirds try, however, due to the nature of Rugby 7s, the clock would run out shortly after Lana Dueck brought the score to 28-10.
UBC placed second in the tournament at 3-1, behind only Victoria’s at 4-0.
Sharing the weekend scoring title, Vikes MacKinnon and Lucie Romeo each had 37 points for their team through four games, with MacKinnon walking away with 11 successful converts, and Romeo having the most trys with seven.
The host Alberta Pandas started the day with a loss to the Thunderbirds (42-5), before going toe-to-toe with the Lethbridge Pronghorns. Captain Shelby Pierce got the home squad on the board first before Kate Manning added another before halftime to give the Pandas a 10-0 lead. Not being able to let up in the 14 minutes of action, the ‘Horns took advantage of fresh legs, opening the second half with a try from Kenya Richards before Tory Clements added one of her own, but it would be the kicks making the difference with Verity Fex and Kayleigh Noel bring the final score to 14-10.
Similar to the Pronghorns, the Calgary Dinos only laced up the boots for one match on Day 2 due to travel disruptions for the Trinity Western Spartans. They hoped to empty the gas tank against the Vikes in round four of action, however, the Vikes managed to score four unanswered trys, as Romeo put up 12 points in a 26-0 win.
All sitting at 1-3, it came down to point-differential and head-to-head record, with the Pandas earning third place, the Dinos fourth and the Pronghorns rounded out the standings in fifth place.
The teams will travel to UBC for the second Canada West 7s series tournament on February 10th and 11th.
FINAL TOURNAMENT 1 STANDINGS
TEAM | W | L | POINTS | |
1 | Victoria | 4 | 0 | 10 |
2 | UBC | 3 | 1 | 8 |
3 | Alberta | 1 | 3 | 6 |
4 | Calgary | 1 | 3 | 4 |
5 | Lethbridge | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Point System: 1st Place – 10 points / 2nd Place – 8 points / 3rd Place – 6 points / 4th Place – 4 points / 5th Place – 2 points
ROUND 4
Game 7: UBC Thunderbirds (42) vs Alberta Pandas (5)
Scoring summary:
1 | 2 | T | |
UBC | 17 | 25 | 43 |
ALB | 5 | 0 | 5 |
UBC try – #6 Adia Pye (#1 Sara Kaljuvee convert) 7-0 UBC
UBC try – #10 Kiki Idowu (convert missed) 12-0 UBC
ALB try – #9 Melina Ioannides (convert missed) 12-5 UBC
UBC try – #10 Kiki Idowu (convert missed) 17-5 UBC
HALF
UBC try – #5 Savannah Bauder (convert missed) 22-5 UBC
UBC try – #8 Sadie Gluvic (convert missed) 27-5 UBC
UBC try – #8 Sadie Gluvic (convert missed) 32-5 UBC
UBC try – #7 Olivia Sarabura (convert missed) 37-5 UBC
UBC try – #4 Tia Jordo (convert missed) 42-5 UBC
Game 8: Victoria Vikes (26) vs Calgary Dinos (0)
Scoring summary:
1 | 2 | T | |
VIC | 12 | 14 | 26 |
CGY | 0 | 0 | 0 |
VIC try – #15 Maggie MacKinnon (convert missed) 5-0 VIC
VIC try – #24 Lucie Romeo (#15 Maggie MacKinnon convert) 12- 0 VIC
HALF
VIC try – #24 Lucie Romeo (#15 Maggie MacKinnon convert) 19-0 VIC
VIC try – #7 Maelle Reed (#15 Maggie MacKinnon convert) 26-0 VIC
ROUND 5
Game 9: Alberta Pandas (10) vs Lethbridge Pronghorns (14)
Scoring summary:
1 | 2 | T | |
ALB | 10 | 0 | 10 |
LET | 0 | 14 | 14 |
ALB try – #16 Shelby Pierce (convert missed) 5-0 ALB
ALB try – #10 Kate Manning (convert missed) 10-0 ALB
HALF
LET try – #9 Kenya Richards (#13 Verity Fex convert) 10-7 ALB
LET try – #11 Tory Clements (#11 Tory Clements convert) 14-10 LET
Game 10: Victoria Vikes (28) vs UBC Thunderbirds (10)
Scoring summary:
1 | 2 | T | |
VIC | 21 | 7 | 28 |
UBC | 0 | 10 | 10 |
VIC try – #10 Emily Findlay (#15 Maggie MacKinnon convert) 7-0 VIC
VIC try – #24 Lucie Romeo (#15 Maggie MacKinnon convert) 14-0 VIC
VIC try – #9 Shaye Ogurek (#15 Maggie MacKinnon convert) 21-0 VIC
HALF
VIC try – #2 Justine Blatt-Janmaat (#15 Maggie MacKinnon convert) 28-0 VIC
UBC try – #6 Adia Pye (convert missed) 28-5 VIC
UBC try – #12 Lana Dueck (convert missed) 28-10 VIC