In their first season as a combined high school, the Lake City Falcons girls rugby team proudly held the BC Rugby High School Girls Provincial Sevens Bowl Final trophy high on Saturday.
Lake City downed Saanich’s Stelly’s Secondary School Queen Bees 22-7 in the online live-streamed bowl final, signalling a ninth-place finish following two days of intense competition April 24-25 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
After finishing day one of the tournament with one win and two losses the Falcons were placed into the third tier. Following the round robin the ninth place result in the 16-team tournament was the best the lakecity squad could achieve.
The weekend started out with the Falcons meeting the fifth-ranked team in the province, Vanier. Williams Lake’s Laura Pfleiderer took the scrumhalf position scoring the first of two tries. Sherdian Davis added a try of her own, however, the Falcons fell 17-12 in a hard-fought, close game.
Next, Lake City took on the No. 1 seed, Bateman. After tries from Natasha Johnson and Skye Forcier, and a conversion from Laura, Bateman squeaked out a win.
Lake City then shellacked the No. 13 seed McMath, 36-0, in their final round robin seeding game. Laura scored three times and made three kicks, while Laurel White, Carleigh Walters and Morgan Grey added supplementary scoring.
Day two of the tournament saw the Falcons march away with a 22-0 win over Elgin Park. Forcier scored twice in the first half, while Johnson scored once. Anna Bracewell added a try in the second half, while Laura nailed a conversion.
Next, Lake City continued to roll, claiming another 22-0 victory — this time over North Vancouver to place them in the Bowl Final. Scoring in the winning effort were Emma Pfleiderer, Bracewell, Johnson and Davis.
In the Bowl Final — with Grade 12s Davis, Anne Butters and Guilanna Durfeld playing in their final sevens game for Lake City — the Falcons didn’t disappoint.
After falling behind 7-0 in the first half Lake City, after a quick line change, battled back with Walters, Emma and Bracewell scoring tries and Davis adding a conversion in the 22-7 Bowl Final win.
The team, coached by Morley Wilson and assisted by Erica Pfleiderer, were led by co-captains Davis and Butters throughout the tournament.
Players on the team ranged from grades 10-12 and, overall, the weekend was very successful. Every player and especially the coach Wilson put copious amounts of effort into the team and its accomplishments.
It was the first trophy won by the new combined Lake City Secondary School, and it will be proudly displayed in our halls.
Carleigh Walters is a team member of the Lake City Falcons girls rugby team.