EDMONTON – Since last winning the Canada West women's rugby title eight seasons ago, the Lethbridge Pronghorns have been charting a path back to the top.

Now they hope that journey might not require leaving their own backyard.

This weekend, the University of Lethbridge hosts the 2019 Canada West Women's Rugby Championship at U of L Community Stadium, with semifinal action slated for Friday, before medal games on Sunday. All games will be available on Canada West TV, with passes going on sale Thursday.



"There's a huge advantage where we're really lucky in Lethbridge that women's rugby is supported by the community," says Pronghorns coach Neil Langevin, whose team often plays home games before sizeable crowds. "That comes with a lot of momentum but also the pressure can build up and sometimes be a distraction."

The soil of these grounds is rich with women's rugby history. Today's Pronghorns would like to add their own link in a legacy that saw their fore-ruggers win an incredible six consecutive Canada West titles from 2006 to 2011.

"It's not getting back there, it's more getting to the spot where we think we deserve to be," says Langevin, who was the team's head coach during those dynasty years. "It's not so much chasing history as just chasing getting better all the time and competing well."

The Pronghorns, who are seeded fourth after posting a 2-4 regular season record, will need to be their absolute best if they hope to emerge triumphant. Their semifinal opponent Dinos finished atop the regular season standings with a 5-1 mark, including a pair of wins over the Pronghorns, the most recent just coming on Oct. 11 in Calgary. The Dinos have designs on a fourth straight Canada West title.

The two squads from the Pacific Coast are no slouches themselves. Victoria placed second in the standings with a 4-1 record, just ahead of the T-Birds, who went 3-2 in the regular season. Victoria and UBC split a pair of regular season matches, each winning on their home pitch. They also played each other in the 2018 championship semifinal, with the Vikes blanking UBC 26-0 to reach the gold medal game for a fourth straight autumn – a streak that includes their first title win in 2015.

Additionally up for grabs this weekend is a berth in the 2019 U SPORTS National Championship, hosted by the University of Ottawa Oct. 30 – Nov.3. None of the Canada West teams competing in Lethbridge would be out of place among the top teams at nationals, considering each of the four has spent multiple weeks ranked in the U SPORTS top 10 during the season.

"I'm pretty proud of our conference," says Langevin, noting the majority of Canada West women's rugby programs now have full-time coaches. "It shows investment by communities and schools in women's rugby in Canada West and we're happy to say we have the most parity of any conference, and (from top to bottom) we're the deepest conference in the country."

At the 2018 Canada West Women's Rugby Championship in Edmonton, the Dinos bested Victoria 27-8 in what was the third straight gold medal match between the teams, while UBC took down the hometown Alberta Pandas 27-5 to capture bronze.

The U of L will be gracious hosts off the pitch this weekend, though the Pronghorns don't plan to be quite so hospitable between the lines.

"Despite being in fourth place, I think we have just as good a chance as anybody of coming out of this incredibly tight conference," Langevin says. "There is a lot of leadership on this team that has done a good job of keeping the girls grounded in lots of games. We've had some good performances and then moments of things we'd like to change for the semifinal."