Cascades earn first win, Vikes and Pronghorns lead the pack after Day 1 of rugby sevens tourney

Mackenzie Fowler had three tries for the Cascades on Saturday as they hosted their first-ever Canada West Women’s Rugby Sevens Series event.

The Victoria Vikes and Lethbridge Pronghorns once again find themselves on a collision course after opening-day action at the second stop of the Canada West Women’s Sevens Series, hosted by the University of the Fraser Valley.

The Vikes and Pronghorns met in the title game at the first sevens series event in Edmonton last month, with Victoria prevailing 35-7.

On Saturday in Abbotsford, both teams won their first three matches. They’re scheduled to play the final game of the round-robin tourney (1:10 p.m. PT), and the way it’s going, that one could once again be for all the marbles.

The Vikes ran their record to 9-0 in 2018 series play, defeating the Alberta Pandas (29-12), Thompson Rivers WolfPack (67-0) and Calgary Dinos (17-15) with Paige Farries and McKenzie Pusch notching four tries apiece. The Pronghorns, meanwhile, racked up wins over the UBC Thunderbirds (15-7), UFV Cascades (24-7) and TRU WolfPack (57-0), with Carolyn McKee leading the way with six tries.

In other action, the host UFV Cascades picked up their first-ever win in the series, defeating the Thompson Rivers WolfPack 27-15 in the opening match of the day behind a pair of tries and a convert from Mackenzie Fowler. Saturday marked the WolfPack’s debut, as they became the seventh Canada West member to compete in the sport.

The tournament concludes on Sunday, with games getting underway at 9 a.m. PT. A full schedule is below.

Scenes from Day 1 of the @CanadaWest Women’s Rugby Sevens Series tournament hosted by the Cascades!

📸 More action photos can be found at the following link, more uploads to come! https://t.co/boF0pLEcTk pic.twitter.com/LR7Zknb0DJ

— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) February 10, 2018

Tournament standings – Day 1

TEAM    WINS    LOSSES TIES        POINTS

VIC         3              0              0              12

LET         3              0              0              12

CGY        2              1              0              9

ALB        2              2              0              10

UBC       1              2              0              6

UFV       1              3              0              7

TRU        0              4              0              4

NOTE: Teams are awarded four points for a win, two points for a draw, and one point for a loss.

COMPLETE GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS AND SCORING SUMMARIES

Sunday schedule

9 a.m. – Lethbridge vs. Calgary

9:25 a.m. – Alberta vs. TRU

9:50 a.m. – Victoria vs. UBC

10:40 a.m. – Lethbridge vs. Alberta

11:05 a.m. – Calgary vs. UBC

11:30 a.m. – Victoria vs. UFV

12:20 p.m. – TRU vs. Calgary

12:45 p.m. – UBC vs. UFV

1:10 p.m. – Victoria vs. Lethbridge