Elyssa Phillipson (right) and the Cascades opened the UVic tournament with a big win over Thompson Rivers. (APShutter.com photos)
The University of the Fraser Valley women’s rugby sevens team posted a 1-5 record as they wrapped up the Canada West Women’s Rugby Sevens Series with a sixth-place finish at the third and final tournament in Victoria.
The Cascades opened the event with a strong performance against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack, prevailing 43-0. Mackenzie Fowler and Shalaya Valenzuela scored two tries apiece, Alex Motoc, Meghan Wellis and Elyssa Phillipson each registered one try, and Fowler booted four converts.
That was the high water mark for the Cascades, as they dropped their next five games to the Calgary Dinos (31-0), UBC Thunderbirds (35-0), Lethbridge Pronghorns (43-0), Alberta Pandas (49-0) and the host UVic Vikes (31-0).
UFV head coach Jen Ross noted that her team lost a lot of firepower when Fowler suffered an injury vs. TRU and was sidelined for the duration of the tournament. But even in her absence, there was evidence of growth. Against eventual champion UVic, the Cascades had a lot more possession than they’d had in previous match-ups, and were within 12-0 at the half.
“Overall, we had our best weekend of rugby,” Ross said. “The scores don’t reflect that, but we have to look at it game to game, and what the goals were for each game. In the win over TRU, we were able to play our game and take a lot of the things we’ve learned over the first two tournaments and put them into practice.”
The Vikes claimed the Canada West title, winning all six of their matches on their home turf to run their overall record to 18-0.
Fowler finished the season as UFV’s top scorer, registering 39 points (five tries, seven converts) to finish 25th in the league in that department.
“Overall, a positive feeling for the girls,” Ross summarized. “And we had a lot of positive comments from coaches of the other teams.
“We had so much more forward momentum and possession, but we just don’t have the finishing power right now. There’s still a lot for us to work on.”
Complete tournament and season standings are as follows.
Tournament #3 standings
TEAM WINS LOSSES TIES POINTS
VIC 6 0 0 24
CGY 4 1 1 19
UBC 3 2 1 16
LET 3 3 0 15
ALB 3 3 0 15
UFV 1 5 0 9
TRU 0 6 0 6
NOTE: Teams are awarded four points for a win, two points for a draw, and one point for a loss.
Overall series standings
Team / Pts.
VIC—30
CGY—22
LET—16
UBC—12
ALB—10
UFV—3
TRU—0
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