Saskatoon Valkyries defeat Regina Riot, advance to league championship

A year after a crushing defeat at the hands of its provincial rivals, the Saskatoon Valkyries returned the favour, beating the Regina Riot 29-14.

On Sunday the Valkyries welcomed the Regina Riot toGordie Howe Park for the Western Women's Canadian Football Leaguefor the Prairie Conference Championship game.

Saskatoon and Regina have squared off in every conference championship game since the league formed in 2011. Last yearthe Riot topped the Valkyries in the conference game, going on to win its first WWCFL title in franchise history.

But the Valkyries wanted to write a different script this year, putting points on the scoreboard early and fast on its wayto another WWCFL championship game next week in Lethbridge, Alta.

Five-year defensive veteran Denise Kolosky said after last year's lossin the conference final,the team was focused in the off-season, training tirelessly, trying to be an unbeatable team in 2016.

"It feels fantastic," Kolosky said. "We've all been training really hard in the off-season and it's paid off a lot."

With her three daughters in attendance, Kolosky said she's proud to show them what can be accomplished with a lot of hard work and dedication.

"We fought hard every down and I want my kids to learn to never stop, never give up," she said.

Rain causesdelay

Jeff Yausie,Valkyrieshead coach,said coming out on top against Regina is a pretty sweet feeling.

"It was a real close game last year so we've had a lot of dog fights with them so our team, we're different," Yausie said. "(Regina) was able to march on us pretty well but we kept them out of the endzone and they didn't score enough points."

The Valkyries maintained its focus despite a 30-minute rain delay. But scoring early keeping its foot on the gas pedal proved to be too much for the defending champs.

"We have a scary team because we know we can run and we know we can throw so we were pretty opportunistic, scoring 21 points in five or six minutes," Yausie said.

The Valkyries will now face the Western Conference champions Edmonton Storm in the league championship game June 25.

In an exhibition game in April this year the Valkyries defeated the Storm 30-17.