UVic Upset Defending Champions UBC in CanWest Season Opener
The rugby season in BC started this Saturday with a university rivalry, UVic vs UBC. The UBC Thunderbirds are defending national title holders and go into the season as favourites as highlighted by the CanWest preseason coaches poll, listed below. Both teams have some marquee names Piper Logan from the national 7s team is UBC scrum half and Carissa Norsten playing fullback for UVic, also on the national 7s team, was World Rugby Rookie of the Year on the 7s circuit in 2023-24. This weekend it was UVic that prevailed and we have both UBC and UVic match reports posted below. Also check out Alfred_Rugby on Instagram for match photos.
Vancouver, B.C. – In a rematch of the 2024 U SPORTS Championship title match, the University of Victoria women’s rugby team defeated the University of British Columbia, 19-15, at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre, Aug. 30 to open the season.
Vikes keep ‘Birds scoreless in first half
- The Vikes were the first to get points on the board, opening the scoring in the 31st minute. Near the goal line, the Vikes sent the ball left, ending with Carissa Norsten sending the ball to Ivy Poetker, who immediately caught the ball and touched it down for the 5-0 Vikes lead.
- Keeping UBC off the board in the first 40 minutes, the Vikes took their 5-0 lead into the halftime break.
UBC opens second-half scoring
- The Thunderbirds put the next 10 points of the game on the board, scoring a try and convert in the 51st minute and a penalty goal in the 55th minute to take a 10-5 lead over Victoria.
Ogurek, Sadden tries help Vikes hold off Thunderbird comeback attempt
- In the 57th minute, Sierra Gillis started the Vikes’ scoring play by powering through Thunderbird defenders before handing the ball off to Shaye Ogurek who finished the run with a try. Ogurek’s try, along with Maggie Mackinnon’s first convert of the season, put the Vikes back in front, 12-10.
- Kicking the ball away in the 69th minute, Justine Blatt-Janmaat’s kick bounced once before ShonDreya Smardon swooped in to the gathering of Thunderbirds to grab the ball and return it for the try. Along with a Mackinnon convert, the Vikes went ahead 19-10.
- UBC scored as the clock hit 80 minutes, pulling within four, 19-15. However, the Vikes held off the final push by the ‘Birds to hold the score and open the season with a win.
Notables
- ShonDreya Smardon scored the first try of her Vikes career while making her Vikes debut against the Thunderbirds.
- Maggie Mackinnon posted four points in her first action for the Vikes since 2023 after missing the 2024 season recovering from injury.
- Ivy Poetker and Shaye Ogurek scored their first tries of the year in the win.
- The Vikes have now won the last two season-opening contests again UBC, claiming a 22-17 win at Wallace Field in last year’s season opener, Sept. 7, 2024.
- The win marks the first for the Vikes on the Thunderbirds’ home field since Sept. 18, 2016, a 47-17 win at UBC.
- The Vikes open the year with a 1-0 record, while UBC starts the season at 0-1.
Victoria will host the University of Calgary for the annual Jenny Vincent Memorial Game and home-opening contest Saturday, Sept. 6 at 1 p.m. Get your tickets here.
Last year, the opener proved to be the only match that the T-Birds dropped all regular season or playoffs, a script that head coach Dean Murten hopes his team can follow again, while recognizing that this type of defeat is not all bad.”If you beat someone 60-0 in the first game you’re kind of left not knowing what you need to work on,” noted Murten. “Now, we have a lot of specific things we know we have to do better to beat a very good team like Victoria.”
The ‘Birds were shut out in the first half, but only allowed the Vikes to go up 5-0, as both sides struggled to find their offensive rhythm. The second half saw UBC take a 10-5 lead with a Jamie Dickson try followed closely by a penalty goal from Brooklyn Roddham. Barely a minute later, Victoria took the lead back for good with a try of their own, before tacking on another score late in the half to make it 19-10. Dickson touched down her second try of the match in stoppage time, and the ‘Birds pressed hard in the final moments, but ultimately the visitors from Vancouver Island held on for the 19-15 win.
“We’ve got to be more fluid with the ball,” said Murten. “We get in certain areas of the field, we look like we’re on top, we’re applying pressure, then we make a mistake and lose the ball. A good team like U Vic just punishes you for that.”
After the two teams felt each other out in the opening minutes of the match, the Vikes began asserting pressure on the home side. Victoria marched down the pitch and pressed near the UBC try zone, with the T-Birds bending but refusing to break.
In the ninth minute, it looked like the Vikes had finally taken the lead, but a would-be try was thwarted at the last moment as the Victoria flanker reached UBC’s try zone with the ball but was unable to touch it down.
The T-Birds finally broke 10 minutes of relentless Vikes pressure when Lana Dueck booted a well-executed drop kick that bounced off of a Victoria player and out of bounds around mid-pitch.
After a series of stops and starts from each side, the Vikes found their attacking form again late in the half. A methodical Victoria attack end up opening a hole on the left side of the UBC defence, with Ivy Poetker finding space to touch it down in the far left corner of the try zone.
UBC immediately found their aggression after giving up the opening score, marching down the pitch until they had a scrum just outside of the Victoria try zone. The T-Birds quickly pulled the ball out and swung it to Dueck, who attempted a cross kick to the far left corner of the pitch, where Adia Pye had found space. Unluckily for the ‘Birds, the ball took a bad bounce and skipped just out of Pye’s reach and out of play.
Despite more magic from Pye, last year’s Canada West scoring leader, who regularly broke tackles and brought the crowd at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre to their feet, the T-Birds could not break through the Vikes defence. Just before the half, Pye went on another run, fighting off a pair of would-be Victoria tacklers before being brought down two meters short of the try zone on a brilliant, individual tackle by Olivia Newsome.
The T-Birds were the aggressors early in the second half, coming out of half-time with renewed energy. Pressure mounted until some slick passing on the right side of the pitch gave Dickson a seam to dart through and scamper in for UBC’s first try of the season. A Roddham convert later, the ‘Birds were up 7-5.
It did not take long for UBC to add to the lead. Minute later, Jesse Knaggs offloaded the ball to Anya Prokopich who burst through the middle of the Vikes defence and set up a penalty try, which Roddham nailed. 10-5 for the T-Birds.
Victoria answered immediately, earning a lineout on the UBC half of the pitch barely a minute later and executing to perfection. The Vikes then broke through the heart of the T-Birds’ defence, with Sierra Gillis powering through multiple would-be tacklers before dumping it off to Shaye Ogurek who charged under the uprights to restore Victoria’s lead, 12-10.
The match settled back into a stalemate for a long stretch after the flurry of scoring, until the Vikes broke through again, when a seemingly innocent play just on UBC’s side of half suddenly became deadly.
A quick crosskick by Justine Blatt-Janmatt bounced perfectly into the arms of ShonDreya Smardon, who had recently been substituted into in. The first-year never broke stride and found a seam in the T-Birds defence, barely touched as she cut through the back line to score another try under the middle of the crossbar. Maggie MacKinnon booted through her second convert of the match and the visitors jumped out to the biggest lead for either side, 19-10.
The urgency ramped up for the ‘Birds, but the Vikes held strong against the home side’s attack. It took until stoppage time for UBC to break through, pressing with short passes and long runs along the right sideline until Dickson broke an arm tackle and trotted into the Victoria try zone for her second score, making it 19-15.
With time nearly out, UBC decided to forego the convert and instead began a frantic attempt to pull out an unlikely win against their longtime rivals. However, the Vikes held strong, stymieing a final run up the right sideline by Dickson to hold on for the win.
After the match, Murten noted that, despite the result, there were some strong individual performances from his team.
“We had a lot of rookies out there who came on,” mused the ninth-year head coach. “Abigail Stanley, an 18-year-old, came out and made a difference. Jamie Dickson on the wing, it was her first real start at this level, fantastic to see her score twice.
“I was very impressed with all of the youngsters, all of the first-years who came on, which means we’ve got good depth.”
The ‘Birds now get a week off, before travelling to Calgary for their only out-of-province game this regular season. They are set to take on the Dinos at 1:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, September 13th. UBC’s next home game at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre is on Thursday, September 18th at 4:30 p.m. (PT) against the Alberta Pandas.
SCORING SUMMARY
1 2 F
UBC 0 15 15
VIC 5 14 19
31′ – VIC Try – #11 Ivy Poetker (#12 Maggie MacKinnon convert missed) 5-0 VIC
HALF
51′ – UBC Try – #14 Jamie Dickson (#10 Brooke Roddham convert) 7-5 UBC
55′ – UBC Penalty Goal – #10 Roddham 10-5 UBC
57′ – VIC Try – #7 Shaye Ogurek (#12 MacKinnon convert) 12-10 VIC
70′ – VIC Try – #24 ShonDreya Smardon (#12 MacKinnon convert) 19-10 VIC
80′ – UBC Try – #14 Dickson (no convert attempt) 19-15 VIC
RUGBY 15s: 2025 Season Preview – from CanWest
Defending champion T-Birds top coaches poll
29 August 2025
Aug. 29, 2025 – Five titles in a row — and no signs of slowing down. The UBC Thunderbirds are once again the clear favourites in Canada West women’s rugby.
UBC has topped this year’s Rugby 15s coaches poll with four first-place votes, ahead of Victoria, Lethbridge, Alberta and Calgary.
The T-Birds’ five-year dynasty run is the most dominant stretch in Canada West since Lethbridge’s six straight titles from 2006-11.
UBC enters the season flying high, having finally captured that elusive first U SPORTS national championship in program history last fall.
As hosts of the 2025 U SPORTS championships, the T-Birds will have the golden opportunity to repeat on home soil.
While UBC has many impactful returnees – led by last year’s CW Player of the Year Rachel Smith, scoring leader Adia Pye, and CW Rookie of the Year Mya Koleba — some roster turnover means the defending champs will need contributions from new faces in key positions.
“We are currently undergoing a significant rebuilding year, and it will be exciting to witness the potential of the next generation of student athletes, particularly those in key positions,” says UBC head coach Dean Murten. “From a performance perspective, our primary objective is to qualify for the Canada West finals. Given that we will be hosting Nationals, we will approach each game strategically, aiming to secure a position in the top four teams by Sunday.”
Hot on UBC’s heels, the Victoria Vikes are riding one of the most successful stretches in program history, fresh off their second straight appearance in the U SPORTS final.
“We are looking forward to another season with the Vikes, having many returning athletes and a strong recruitment class” says head coach Brittany Waters. “We are excited to play a fast and dynamic style of play with our signature dominant defence and continue driving our positive team culture forward.”
Out on the prairies, Lethbridge is looking to build on a 4–2 regular season in 2024. Head coach Graeme Moffat — who was named last year’s CW Coach of the Year — says his team has been putting in the work and is ready to compete with CW’s best.
“The team has worked hard over the summer physically, which has allowed us to prioritize rugby during training camp with such a short lead-in,” says Moffat. “Our squad is maturing, and our senior players have a critical role in modelling to our younger players who have joined us.”
The Pronghorns will battle for prairie supremacy against Alberta and Calgary, with both the Pandas and Dinos eager to push into contender status this season.
The regular season begins tomorrow with UBC hosting Victoria (1 p.m. PT / CanadaWest.TV), followed by Alberta visiting Calgary (5 p.m. MT / CanadaWest.TV). Lethbridge opens its schedule the following week, as they head north to Edmonton to battle the Pandas on Sept. 5.
Of note, this year’s regular season will see UBC and Victoria each make a regular season trip to the prairies on Sept. 13. The Thunderbirds visit Calgary, while the Vikes battle Lethbridge.
Alberta’s Foote Field will be the host site for the conference’s Final Four, with semifinals slated for Oct. 16 and the bronze/gold medal games on Oct. 19.
All Canada West Rugby 15s games will be available live and on demand this season on Canada West TV – Powered by BioSteel. Fans can purchase a Rugby 15s Sport Pass for one low price, so they don’t miss a second of the action across the conference.
2025 CW RUGBY 15s COACHES POLL
Team – Points (First-place votes)
- UBC Thunderbirds – 16 (4)
- Victoria Vikes – 13 (1)
- Lethbridge Pronghorns – 10
- Alberta Pandas – 7
- Calgary Dinos – 4
TEAM BY TEAM PREVIEW
UBC Thunderbirds
2025 Coaches Poll Rank: #1
Team Outlook: After winning the first U SPORTS Championship in program history in 2024, the Thunderbirds return most of their veterans to fight for their sixth consecutive Canada West 15s crown.
Longtime face of the program Savannah Bauder has graduated after five incredible seasons, but conference scoring leader Adia Pye, only entering her third year, returns – alongside reigning Canada West Player of the Year Rachel Smith, Canada West Rookie of the Year Mya Koleba and several others who have recently played for the Canadian Senior National Team. The expectations are sky high for this group, who see themselves as the team to beat across the entire country for the 2025-26 season.
From the Coach: “We are currently undergoing a significant rebuilding year, and it will be exciting to witness the potential of the next generation of student athletes, particularly those in key positions. From a performance perspective, our primary objective is to qualify for the Canada West finals. Given that we will be hosting Nationals, we will approach each game strategically, aiming to secure a position in the top four teams by Sunday.” – Dean Murten
Key Performer: Adia Pye
Back Three | 3rd Year | Victoria, B.C.
2024 stats: 55 points (1st in conference), 11 tries (1st in conference), 170 Points between 15s and 7s (more than double the next best scorer in the conference)
Pye exploded on to the scene as the 2023 Canada West Rookie of the Year and followed that up with a dominant sophomore season. The explosive back three star led Canada West in both points and tries in both 15s and 7s, with her 34 combined tries and 170 combined points more than double anyone else in the conference. Pye headlines a team featuring several Canadian Olympians, filling the shoes of all-time Canada West scoring leader and former U SPORTS Player of the Year Savannah Bauder, who graduated after last season.
Victoria Vikes
2025 Coaches Poll Rank: #2
Team Outlook: The Vikes are coming off their second-straight U SPORTS championship final appearance in 2024, having claimed the national silver medal for two-straight seasons. The Vikes will look to turn their silver medals to gold at both the Canada West and U SPORTS levels in 2025, looking to tap into the experience gained by current players as part of the summer training as part of various Rugby Canada squads. The Vikes return a solid amount of starters from 2024 to continue to build on their success.
From the Coach: “We are looking forward to another season with the Vikes, having many returning athletes and a strong recruitment class. We are excited to play a fast and dynamic style of play with our signature dominant defence and continue driving our positive team culture forward.” – Brittany Waters
Key Performer: Emily Findlay
Back Row | 3rd Year | Regina, Sask.
2024 stats: 1 try
A Canada West All-Star and U SPORTS All-Canadian last season, Finlay appeared in eight matches for the Vikes making seven starts in 2024. An anchor of the Vikes’ defense, Findlay is usually the first to a breakdown and often seen making big tackles for the Vikes on defence.
Lethbridge Pronghorns
2025 Coaches Poll Rank: #3
Team Outlook: The Pronghorns approach the 2025 season with the aim of establishing themselves as Alberta’s leading program. Building on the strides made last year, the Horns enter the campaign looking to make their mark with greater physical readiness and a tight-knit team culture.
From the Coach: “The team has worked hard over the summer physically, which has allowed us to prioritize rugby during training camp with such a short lead-in. Our squad is maturing, and our senior fourth and fifth year players have a critical role in modelling to our younger players who have joined us. We have some exciting prospects who have joined the team, and we are excited to see their progress in the coming seasons.” – Graeme Moffat
Key Performer: Mackenzie Hutten
Lock | 5th Year | Rocky Mountain House, Alta.
The Horns will look to Hutten to provide veteran leadership, coming off a strong campaign in which she was named a Canada West All Star in 2024. The product of Rocky Mountain House is the team captain and a key leader both on and off the field.
Alberta Pandas
2025 Coaches Poll Rank: #4
Team Outlook: The Alberta Pandas are set to host the 2025 Canada West Championship at Foote Field this October, bringing added excitement to their campaign. After a 2024 season that featured a roster with more than half first-year players, the Pandas enter the new year focused on growth and development. That young core has gained valuable experience through the Canada West 7s series, indoor training sessions, and their continued progress will be central to the team’s success.
From the Coach: “Pandas Rugby are looking forward to hosting the 2025 Canada West Championship at Foote Field this October. The Pandas are looking to improve on their performance from last season where over half of their squad were rookies. The key to success for this year’s Pandas rugby squad will be that group of first year’s progress in both technical skills & tactical understanding from the CW 7s series, indoor trainings in our dome, and also the gains from our gym sessions. The squad will also hopefully be helped by the ten girls who represented the Alberta Wolfpack at the National U19 Championships in Calgary this summer.” – Matthew Parrish
Key Performer: Cassie Mann
Back Row | 4th Year | Edmonton, Alta.
2024 stats: 4 tries, 20 points
Cassie is the team’s captain and leader, both on and off the field. She is the team’s primary ball carrier and is coming off a stellar stint with the provincial team.
Calgary Dinos
2025 Coaches Poll Rank: #5
Team Outlook: After a strong finish last fall that saw the Dinos narrowly miss the Canada West Bronze Medal, a youthful squad returns with more experience this season looking to build off last year. A handful of newcomers will also look to make their mark.
From the Coach: “The team has invested many hours of hard work and dedication over the past eight months. Now, we are eager to return to competition and showcase the progress we’ve made together. Our squad features many young athletes who are ready to take the next step in their development, and we are confident in their potential.
Our success this season will come down to one thing: our ability to consistently uphold and impose our four pillars of performance every time we step onto the pitch.” – Simon Chi
Key Performer: Bomi Lawal
Wing | 3rd Year | Calgary, Alta.
2024 stats: 9 tries
Bomi Lawal came on strong down the stretch of her second season, leading the way for the Dinos with nine tries during the Rugby 7s campaign. After she was selected to represent Canada at the Junior Pan-Am Games this summer, Lawal figures to play a big role for this fall’s Rugby 15s season.