It’s been a long time coming, and the UPEI Panthers women’s rugby team is savouring its first taste of playoff action in four years.
On Saturday, the Panthers will do battle with the Acadia Axewomen in the Atlantic University Sport semifinals at the University of Prince Edward Island. Game time is 2 p.m.
While the two teams split their season series and finished with identical 3-3 records, UPEI won home-field advantage on a differential of two points.
With the competition level so tight, the difference will be whichever team has more will to win, said Panthers’ head coach Shannon Atkins.
“This has become a very structured team,” she said of the 2011 Panthers. “All they need to do is play like they know how. We have the technical and physical ability to win on Saturday, but we’ll need to mentally decide that it’s what we really want.”
Following their season-ending loss to Acadia last week, the team has held a series of hard-working, efficient practices.
“All of us have the same goal for this weekend — win,” said third-year prop Sumara Profit. “Losing to them has motivated us even more to beat them this weekend.”
The game marks Profit’s first taste of playoff action at the AUS level, but despite heightened pressure, the 20-year-old said the key will be remaining focused and playing to the level of rugby the team knows it’s capable of.
The Panthers are excited for a chance to prove themselves, said eight-man/lock Keisha Rose.
“I think the game this weekend will let us prove to the league and ourselves that this is where we belong,” the 22-year-old said. “The last few years have been an uphill climb and it’s exciting to see we are making progress.”
But the job’s not yet done.
“We can’t get too panicked and try to play individually,” said Rose. “We need to want it more, and stay mentally focused throughout the whole game.”
Rose added it was “very satisfying” to see opponents shocked at the improvements to the UPEI program.
“They had counted us out at the start of the season and it was awesome to witness their dissatisfaction after we played them.”
Profit said the club wants to reward their “amazing” hometown fans with a win.
“The rugby community is very tightly knit,” she said. “Everyone is very supportive of our team and knows about the improvements we have made this season.”
Profit said the team has bonded into a P.E.I. family unit with one “adopted Islander” — Truro’s Payson Saunders.
And while the team is savouring the second-place finish, coach Atkins believes even better times are ahead.
“Obviously, we are very excited,” she said. “(But) I must admit that it does not exceed our expectations.”
Atkins said she took over the coaching duties last season with a three-year plan in mind. Last year’s club did not reach its goal of winning one or two games, but this season she expected the second-place finish as well as a berth in the AUS championships.
“Next year, our goal is to be in the same place and have the opportunity to attend the CIS championships at St. F.X.,” she told The Guardian.
Because the X-Women are hosting in Antigonish, the top two teams in the AUS will be able to attend.
Atkins admits one thing surprised her this year — the national ranking. The Panthers cracked the top-10 in the CIS rankings earlier this month.
“It’s like the cherry on top of the sundae that we already ordered,” Atkins said.
Profit said going from almost last in the country to 10th in just two years shows how hard the players have worked on their fitness and skill development.
Last week’s loss bumped UPEI out of the top-10, giving the Panthers even more incentive to regain it this weekend. The last time UPEI played in the championship game was 2006, when they lost to St. F.X.
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