Calgary, Alta: The British Columbia Senior Men's Provincial Team fell 35-23 to the Prairie Wolf Pack on Saturday evening in their fourth outing of the 2011 Canadian Rugby Championshp. The loss sees the two sides split their 2011 series with BC having previously beaten the Wolf Pack 31-29 at the Kelowna Apple Bowl on August 13th.

From the opening whistle in Calgary, the BC squad struggled to build their momentum and went down 17-0 early on. The Wolf Pack kicked off and managed to recover the ball to score just 25 seconds into the match with Adam Bontus crossing over. Chris Wolf stepped up to kick the conversion and added a penalty shortly after for a 10-0 lead.

With the momentum in their favour, Ian Shoults then crossed over and with another conversion by Wolf, the home side jumped out to 17-0.

"The Wolf Pack had their game together tonight and they had a great start," said BC head coach Kris De Scossa. "They gave our young players the sort of test that we've been expecting. It's a tough result for us, but at the same time It's fantastic for our young players to have the opportunity to play at this level and to have learned the lessons they can take away from that game."

BC's full back Connor Braid responded with a pair of penalties to make it 17-6. As the half wore on, BC found their footing and hooker Edvin Sabic finished off a series of hard phases with a try. Braid converted for the 17-13 half time score.

The second frame opened with the Prairie Wolf Pack scoring early as Ian Huston crossed over and Wolf converted. Wolf then added another two penalties for the Prairie side, with Braid notching a penalty for BC.

The next score saw BC winger Shawn Mercier barrel over in the far corner with Braid hitting the difficult conversion.

With the score line 30-23 in favour of the Wolf Pack and the clock nearing 80 minutes, Tyler Hawes went over for the final try to seal the win 35-23.

A young BC squad struggled without a number of key players, including their veteran captain Eric Wilson who was a late withdrawal from the match due to injury.

"Losing our Captain and a world class scrum half definitely had an impact on our performance," said BC head coach Kris de Scossa. "Cody Rockson stepped up to the plate and played well, but we definitely missed Eric's leadership on the pitch."

"We are getting a number of younger players experience at this level which is great on an individual level," added De Scossa. "But it makes it tough to build that overall team dynamic and that effected how we played tonight."

Sitting in third place in the CRC standings with a 2-2 record, BC now heads to Newfoundland for their final match of the 2011 CRC. Kick off is scheduled for August 27th at Swiler's Rugby Complex in St. John's.

Wolf Pack Scoring: 35
Tries: Adam Bontus, Ian Shoults, Ian Huston, Tyler Hawes
Conversions: Chris Wolf x3
Penalties: Chris Wolf x3

British Columbia Scoring: 23
Tries: Edvin Sabic, Shawn Mercier
Conversions: Connor Braid x2
Penalties: Connor Braid x3

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