Vancouver, BC: Abbotsford Collegiate went undefeated to win the 2012 BC Rugby High School Girls Provincial Sevens championship on Saturday afternoon at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium.

Abbotsford Collegiate played six games during the two-day tournament conceding just one try and racked up a total of 218 points in offence. The tournament champs went 3-0 in pool play defeating Lord Byng 45-5, Kwantlen Park 44-0 and Semiahmoo 30-0. Carrying their form into day two, Abbotsford downed Lord Tweedsmuir 32-0 in the Cup quarterfinal and defeated GP Vanier 30-0 in the Cup semifinals.

The Abbotsford Collegiate Panthers blanked Carson Graham 37-0 in the Cup final, with an impressive seven-try effort. Cup final MVP Lauren Arthur recorded a trio of tries with single tallies also recorded by Shelby Pihl, Natalie Teteris, Junnaya Murphy and Tiffany Picketts. Picketts tacked on the conversion to round out the scoring.

"I am so proud of the team as they played well and supported each other throughout the whole tournament," said Abbotsford Collegiate head coach Peter Cannon. "Part of our pre-game talk heading into the final were three major concepts; support, communicate and believe. Our girls really bought into it and played some great rugby."

Cannon was pleased to see his squad come out on top of the 16-team tournament but was equally as excited to see how sevens rugby was creating such a buzz a the high school level.

Similar to a 16-team tournament in the International Rugby Board World Sevens Series, trophies were also awarded for 13th, ninth and fifth place. The Shield (13th overall) went to Mt Boucherie of the Okanagan Valley. The Bowl (ninth overall) was lifted by Elgin Park of Surrey and the Plate (fifth overall) went to Abbotsford's Robert Bateman. In the consolation playoff for third place, 2011 provincial sevens champions Cowichan Thunderbirds defeated Vancouver Island rivals GP Vanier 15-0. Jess Neilson of Carson Graham, a standout on the British Columbia provincial 15s program was named tournament MVP.

"This [tournament] was awesome. It was such a great opportunity for these girls," Cannon added. "It's not just about winning the cup. There is a team over there who have never lifted a trophy and today they came away with the Shield. Two hours later those players are still here talking about how much they enjoyed playing in the tournament and how great of an experience this was."

The 2012 edition of the BC Rugby High School Girls Provincial Sevens saw 16 teams from across the province competing at UBC, up from the five-team field that battled for a provincial title in 2011. The tournament was officiated by certified members of the BC Rugby Referee's Society, including one of Canada's most accomplished international referees Sherry Trumbull.

"Especially with sevens now being apart of the Olympics [in 2016], tournaments like these are only going to grow as there is more emphasis put on this version of the game," Cannon added. "I hope to see this tournament keep going and look forward to next year."

The BC High School Girls Rugby Association will now turn its attention back to the 15-a-side code where teams will battle for berths into the 2012 BC Finals, scheduled for May 24-26 at Klahanie Park in West Vancouver.

DAY TWO RESULTS - April 14, 2012:
Match# Qualifying Round
25 Bowl QF Elgin Park 38 - 0 Cowichan-B
26 Bowl QF Walnut Grove "B" 41 - 0 Kwantlen Park 9:20am
27 Bowl QF Robert Bateman "A" 17 - 10 Mt Boucherie 9:40am
28 Bowl QF Lord Byng 10 - 15 Stelly's 10:00am
29 Cup QF Carson Graham 24 - 0 Walnut Grove 10:20am
30 Cup QF Cowichan-A 20 - 0 Semiahmoo 10:40am
31 Cup QF GP Vanier 7 - 5 Robert Bateman "B" 11:00am
32 Cup QF Abbotsford "A" 32 - 0 Lord Tweedsmuir 11:20am

Match# Semi-Final Round
33 Shield SF Cowichan 'B' 20 - 0 Kwantlen Park 11:40am
34 Shield SF Mt Boucherie 15 - 10 Lord Byng 12:00pm
35 Bowl SF Elgin Park 31 - 0 Walnut Grove 'B' 12:20pm
36 Bowl SF Robert Bateman 'A' 25 - 0 Stelly's 12:40pm
37 Plate SF Walnut Grove 'A' 17 - 15 Semiahmoo 1:00pm
38 Plate SF Rober Bateman 'B' 34 - 0 Lord Tweedsmuir 1:20pm
39 Cup SF Carson Graham 15 - 12 Cowichan 'A' 1:40pm
40 Cup SF GP Vanier 0 - 30 Abbotsford 'A' 32 2:00pm

Match# Finals Round
41 Shield Final Cowichan 'B' 0 - 34 Mt Boucherie 34 2:40pm
42 Bowl Final Elgin Park 22 - 5 Rober Bateman 'A' 3:05pm
43 Plate Final Walnut Grove 'A' 0 - 24 Robert Bateman 'B' 38 3:30pm
44 3/4 Play Off Cowichan 'A' 15 - 0 GP Vanier 3:55pm
45 Cup Final Carson Graham 0 - 37 Abbotsford Collegiate 'A' 4:30pm

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