The rugby X-Women played their first round robin game at the CIS championship in Lethbridge, AB Friday afternoon and earned a 5-5 tie with the western conference representative Alberta Pandas.

Playing in unusually warm temperatures for southern Alberta, the X-Women pressured during the first few minutes of the game but just couldn’t push a try across. Courtnay Malcolm narrowly missed a penalty kick halfway through the first half. 

Kim Armstrong got the X-Women on the board scoring a try 17 minutes into the game. Malcolm was unable to score the conversion on a tough angle. The X-Women owned the slim 5-0 lead at half-time.

In the quicker round robin games with 25 minute halves, every play counts and the X-Women may have been a bit sluggish in their first taste at nationals. Chelsea Stone scored a try for the Pandas five minutes into the second half and the conversion was wide, so the game was tied 5-5 in the second frame.

Although the Pandas were pressuring at the end of the second half and were close to the touch line, the X-Women were able to hold them off and keep the tie intact. The game ended as a tie as overtime play does not come into effect during the round robin games.

The Pandas had lost earlier in the day to the Guelph Gryphons by a 15-5 score.