Pandas stage 21-point second-half comeback to tie 'Horns 26-26

EDMONTON - Third-year Katie Nadeau scored an injury time to lead the Alberta Pandas to a 26-26 tie against the Lethbridge Pronghorns Friday evening at Foote Field in the first leg of the Suggitt Cup.

It was a tale of two halves, with the 'Horns dominating the visitors in the first half, but getting shutout in the second due to some well made Pandas adjustments. Alberta fly half Keira Skrenek was key to the comeback, as she hit all second-half converts to lead to the tie. The 'Horns scored four tries to the Panda's one in the first half, but Alberta won the second half battle by a 3-0 margin.

With the win, Alberta stays undefeated at 1-0-1 ahead of a tour of BC in two weeks, while this was the season opener for the 'Horns who enter next week with a 0-0-1 record.

The game started out with a bang, as within the first minute the Pandas had scampered down to the goalline thanks to a near 30-yard dash from Cassie Mann who promptly housed it for an early 5-0 home lead. However, that would be about the last Alberta threat in the half as the 'Horns would dominate both the field position and scoreboard the rest of the way. They started with a response in the sixth-minute, when Zina Umeh took a pitch to the right and scored right at the boundary to knot the game at 5. Fifteen scoreless minutes of play later, Charli Helland (try leader) pounded a two-yard try in near the uprights to set up a successful convert kick from Kayleigh Noel and a 12-5 lead. Then, nearing the end of the half, Tayah Perry and Millie Tesky both ran in tries with a Noel convert to head into the half with a 26-5 lead.

Some fresh legs in the second half benefitted the home side, as just five minutes into frame Emerson Hanrahan found an opening and touched paydirt, which with a Keira Skrenek convert made the game a 26-12 score. The Pandas would not stop there, as just five minutes later Stella Henry Rodriguez punched it in from the line for a converted try that shrunk the 'Horns lead to just seven.

The next half-an-hour up to the 80th minute were relatively quiet, but the drama only started when the clock stopped. Due to a hot evening filled with cramping and water breaks, injury time was extended far past the usual, which set up some late dramatics. After back-and-forth drives that pushed each line to the brink, it was Alberta who broke through figuratively and literally. Katie Nadeau punched in a physical, one-yard try and a Skrenek convert tied the game at 26 as a raucous Pandas fanbase shook the stands at Foote Field. Both teams got another attempt at a game-winner, but the defences held strong to finish the first leg of the Cup in a tie.

The Pandas have a week off before heading to BC on the 18th to take on the Thunderbirds, then finish three days later with a Sunday game against the Victoria Vikes. Those same Vikes travel to Lethbridge next weekend to take on the 'Horns.