CALGARY – Looking to punch their ticket to the national tournament, the Lethbridge Pronghorns fell behind early and were never able to find their footing in a 36-7 loss to the Victoria Vikes in the first of two Canada West semifinals Thursday afternoon in Calgary.
 
The Vikes scored the first four tries of the match and never looked back, moving on to play in the Canada West Championship game on Sunday. The Pronghorns will play for a bronze medal on Sunday, taking on the host Calgary Dinos at 11 am at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.
 
The victory also qualified Victoria for a spot at the U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championships in Kingston, Ont.
 
The Vikes forward pods were relentless to start, forcing Pronghorns to make repeated hard tackles. Faith Tilley punched through the defence and stretched across the line to open the scoring five minutes into the game.
 
A spirited response by the Pronghorns saw them march down the field and maintain pressure in the Victoria half. The Vikes defence held strong, and a great exit kick and miss handled catch relieved the pressure.
 
After back-and-forth play in the middle of the field, a yellow card to Lethbridge's Marguerite Medwid gave the momentum back to the Vikes.
 
The Vikes capitalized while up a player, using the extra space on the field to swing the ball wide and put Shalaya Valenzuala in the corner.
 
33 minutes into the game, Summer Blackmore intercepted a pass on the Pronghorns 22-meter line and there was no one back to stop her, turning defence into points for the Vikes. Alexie Pusch was successful on the kick.
 
The second half started like the first, with the Vikes firing on all cylinders. A perfectly executed blocker play off a lineout gave Brittany Gardiner the hole for a try two minutes into the second half.
 
The Pronghorns found their offence and after sustained pressure broke through the Vikes defence. Repeated pick and goes off rucks gave a hole for Sara Cline to put down the Pronghorns first try. Abby Neudorf made the convert to close the gap to 15.
 
Great ball movement by the Vikes backs moved the ball back into the Pronghorns half. Soleil Brooks broke a few tackles and stretched across the try line for the Vikes fifth try of the game. Alexie Pusch converted the try and stretched the lead back to 22.
 
The Vikes kept on the gas and a great solo effort and footwork had Larah Wright finish off the scoring with five minutes left in the game.
 
 
SCORING SUMMARY
First Half
5' VIC – Faith Tilley try, 5-0 VIC
25' VIC – Shalaya Velaenzuela try, 10-0 VIC
33' VIC – Summer Blackmore try (Alexie Pusch convert), 17-0 VIC
 
Second Half
42' VIC – Brittany Gardiner try, 22-0 VIC
57' LET – Sara Cline try (Abby Neudorf convert) – 22-7 VIC
65' VIC – Soleil Brooks try (Alexie Pusch convert) – 29-7 VIC
75' VIC – Larah Wright try (Kira Peary convert) – 36-7 VIC