In their first appearance at the event, the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s rugby team earned a silver medal at the fourth annual university sevens tournament hosted by Rugby Canada in Victoria, BC.

The Horns women’s rugby team took 12 players to participate in the event, choosing from the 2013 Pronghorn team that finished third in Canada West and was led by head coach JJ Ondrus.

After losing their opening game 17-12 to the University of Guelph, the Pronghorns beat McMaster 17-15 and the UBC Thunderbirds 7-5 in round robin play, earning a fourth seed heading into the medal round.

In the quarter-finals, led by two tries from Nicole Ronsky, the Horns defeated the Western Mustangs 17-5. They then faced a familiar foe, the Victoria Vikes in the semifinals, winning a close-fought game, 7-5, on a Tiffany Wideen try and Sarah Gordon conversion.

Running out of steam in the finals, the Horns were defeated 24-7 by McMaster.

“The girls are excited for fall after this success. We trained hard in the off season for this,” says head coach JJ Ondrus. “We're hoping to play more sevens in the future. After our first game (loss vs Guelph) we continued to build confidence, but ran out of steam in the final. I’m proud of the way the girls played, never giving up and scoring on the final play of the game.”

Ronsky led the Horns in scoring in the tournament, counting four tries, while Kara Loewen and Frederique Tremblay each scored two tries.