The two teams trading scoring chances in a tightly contested first half, but the 'Birds found another gear and scored five unanswered tries in the second half to earn the decisive victory.
"I'm really happy with the second half," said UBC head coach Dean Murten. "In the first half we looked a bit slow and lethargic. It certainly wasn't the way we wanted to start and that's something we need to address. At halftime we had a good chat and fixed some of the things that were going wrong. One thing we have this year is depth, and we were able to get some of the younger players on and give them experience – while being able to get some of the older players off and rest them for another big game coming up on Thursday against Calgary."
UBC charged out of the opening kickoff and moved the ball down the right wing as Florence Symonds found Madison Gold for an early 5-0 lead, but the Vikes responded in the 13th minute with an Alexie Pusch try to even the score at 5-5. The back-and-forth battle continued two minutes later when Emma Feldinger broke through the line to get deep into Vikes territory and set up a Kally King try to retake the lead, 10-5 in the 18th minute. Victoria fought right back with a Regan Casey try to even it up once again at 10-10 before Gold powered through the middle of the field and offloaded to Alayna Scramstad between the posts for a converted try and a 17-10 advantage. UBC continued to push when Piper Logan broke free on a run down the left wing in the 32nd minute, but Victoria's defence held strong and headed into halftime down just seven.
Great try for Piper Logan in the corner off of a quick tap by Alayna Scramstad!! 27-10 UBC pic.twitter.com/f8HQ2Qu3xV
— UBC Women's Rugby (@UBCWRugby) October 23, 2021
The rain picked up to start the second half as the provincial rivals traded possessions near midfield. UBC maintained pressure on the visitors before Symonds ran in her second try of the game to give the 'Birds a 22-10 cushion in the 51st minute. Seven minutes later, Logan took the ball from Scramstad out of a scrum and ran it in for a try to make it 27-10 Thunderbirds. UBC made their way to the Vikes try line again in the 67th minute before Feldinger carried it over the line under the posts for a converted try at 34-10. UBC wasn't done yet, as Olivia Sarabura ran down a Seumanutafa kick to add to the lead in the 72nd minute and Symonds scored her second try of the afternoon as time expired to secure the 44-10 win.
?? WRUG | @UBCWRugby end the @CanadaWest regular season undefeated with a 44-10 victory over @uvicvikes! #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/cig8RFB7qr
— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) October 23, 2021
After the final whistle, the Thunderbirds recognized five graduating seniors in Kendra Roberts, Emily Baker, Emma Feldinger, Tess Woldring, and Madison Gold following their final regular season game in front of their home crowd.
UBC earned five points in the victory (notching a bonus point for scoring more than four tries) to clinch first place in the conference and set up a meeting with the Calgary Dinos on Thursday, October 28th.
"Calgary won't be happy finishing fourth in the league, especially on home soil," said Murten. "We can't take them for granted. They'll be looking to make up for their season and come back even harder, so we have to be really prepared for that. If we win that one and get into the final, we'll see what happens…but we're in a good place."
Scoring Summary
First Half
4' UBC Madison Gold Try 5-0
13' UVIC Alexie Pusch Try 5-5
18' UBC Kally King Try 10-5
23' UVIC Regan Casey Try 10-10
28' UBC Alayna Scramstad Try (conversion – Savannah Bauder) 17-10
Second Half
51' UBC Florence Symonds Try 22-10
58' UBC Piper Logan Try 27-10
68' UBC Emma Feldinger Try (conversion – Bauder) 34-10
72' UBC Olivia Sarabura Try 39-10
79' UBC Symonds Try 44-10
T-Birds clinch first place in the Canada West with statement victory over Vikes - UBC Thunderbirds
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