Raul del Rosario

Photographer

Sofia Avelino is about to become a new Infidels Jazz classic. Last week’s Hero’s Welcome gig was her second time performing the music of Brazilian jazz legend Elis Regina after a sold-out show on Granville Island in May — and as Infidels founder Tim Reinert said at the start of the night, when you have someone sell out a show, you have to ask them to come back for another.

Surrounded by Ottawa players in grey jerseys, a Laval player in a black jersey looks to pass the ball to a teammate.

Completing their journey back to success after losing in the tournament’s opening game, L’Université Laval Rouge et Or dominated their in-conference rivals, the University of Ottawa’s Gee-Gees by a score of 40 –14. This was the consolation final for the U Sports Women’s Rugby Championship — the first match of the final day of competition at Thunderbird Stadium — with fifth place on the line.

A group of T-Birds, all in white jerseys, wave to the fans after the game.

For the hundreds of T-Birds fans in attendance, their hearts were in their throats. While UBC women’s rugby had played an incredible game thus far against the second-seeded Queens University Gaels, holding on to a slim 20–14 lead in the final minutes of the game — their backs were against the wall. With the Gaels on the goal line, UBC made an improbable last-second stop to go to the finals.

A group of Laval players in black and red, try to run through a group of T-Birds in white.

After waiting all day to see the home team play, the crowd at Thunderbird Stadium was rewarded for their patience, watching the sixth-seeded UBC Women’s Rugby team pull off an upset against the third-seeded RSEQ champion L’Université Laval Rouge et Or at the U Sports Women’s Rugby Championship. On a day where the first two seeds in the tournament were dominant, with Victoria winning by 33 and Queens by 80, the ‘Birds broke the trend, making Laval the highest seed in the tournament to lose thus far, defeating the Rouge et Or 32-10.

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