LETHBRIDGE – Hosted by the Calgary Dinos, the Lethbridge Pronghorn women's rugby team will take on the Victoria Vikes Thursday afternoon in the first of two Canada West semifinals, with a berth to the U SPORTS National Championships on the line.
 
The Pronghorns and Vikes will hit the field at McMahon Stadium Thursday at 12:30 PM, catch all the action on www.canadawest.tv, presented by Co-op.
 
The top seeded UBC Thunderbirds will take on the host Calgary Dinos in the second semifinal at 2:30 pm. Winners of the semifinals automatically qualify for the U SPORTS Championships hosted in Kingston, ON, by Queen's University.
 
The Canada West Championship game will be Sunday at 1:00 PM at McMahon Stadium, following the Bronze medal game at 11:00 AM.
 
A look at the teams
 
Under first year bench boss, Graeme Moffat improved to 3-3 record this season after finishing 2-4 in the 2019 season and moved up to third spot in a close Canada West conference.
 
The Pronghorns swept two games with the Alberta Pandas and split their two game set with Calgary Dinos. On the coast to close out the regular season, the Pronghorns lost both games to the UBC Thunderbirds and Vikes to close out the regular season two weeks ago.
 
An experienced group of forwards, led by fifth-year lock Abby Duguid were the engine of the Pronghorn team this season. Named a Canada West All-Star in 2018, Duguid finished second on the team in tries but was integral to the Pronghorn success on both sides of the ball.
 
Flanker Gwen Fillinger led the Pronghorns in tries with five in six games, tying fifth-year scrumhalf Caitlin Sears for the team lead in points, and tying for fifth place in Canada West scoring. Sears kicked three penalty goals and eight converts in only four games.
 
The Vikes (3-2) swept the visiting Alberta schools this season, including a 29-0 win over the Pronghorns two weeks ago in Victoria. Both of the Vikes losses came at the hands of the undefeated UBC Thunderbirds, which included a 44-10 loss last weekend.
 
In recent history, the Vikes have had the Pronghorns number, winning the last 9 match ups. 
 
Led by a balanced offensive attack, the Vikes had 15 different players score at least one try during their five games this season. Larah Wright led the Vikes with three tries, while six others had two tries this season.