In the aftermath of a dominant 37-0 victory over the Bateman Timberwolves in the Fraser Valley AA championship game last Thursday, Abbotsford Collegiate senior girls rugby coach Peter Cannon acknowledged he has a special team on his hands.
"They've really bought into this concept that we're not 15 individuals – we're a team," Cannon marveled. "And it's just beautiful to watch.
"When play as a team, there's not a team in the province that can stop us – in AA, anyway."
Indeed, if the Panthers can approach the level of play they put on display Thursday, they'll be awfully hard to handle at the B.C. high school championships, which run May 24-26 at Klahanie Park in West Vancouver.
Abby Collegiate got tries from seven different players – Veronica Flores, Junnaya Murphy, Gurpreet Dhaliwal, Melody Algera, Kayla Van Veld, Lauren Arthur and Natalie Teteris – while Tiffany Picketts booted a convert in the Valley final.
"We want it really bad," said Van Veld, looking ahead to the provincials. "If we play together, we can do anything, honestly."
LIONS CLINCH PROVINCIAL BERTH
In senior boys rugby action, the Yale Lions punched their ticket to the B.C.'s with a 56-12 triumph over Abby Collegiate on Thursday.
Spencer Miller led the charge with two tries, while Coulson de St Remy, Brodie de St Remy, Daniel Baranowski, Akash Deo, Eli Reeves-Tigunov and Thomas Choi scored one apiece.
Yale hosts the AAA Fraser Valleys this Thursday. The schedule is as follows:
1 p.m. – Half berth game: Fraser Valley No. 5 vs. Lower Mainland No. 6
2:15 p.m. – Fraser Valley Tier 2 final: Port Moody vs. Walnut Grove
2:15 p.m. – Fraser Valley Tier 1 3rd/4th game: Yale vs. Semiahmoo
3:30 p.m. – Fraser Valley Tier 1 championship game: Robert Bateman vs. Earl Marriott