Although Canada West scored first, converting two penalty kicks in the first 10 minutes, it was obvious from the start that this would be a very different game from the one that occurred on Canada’s home turf in British Columbia on July 20, where the West beat the Falcons 55-3.
 
Saturday’s Falcons squad came out extremely determined to not give up any easy tries and for the most part were able to suppress Canada West’s expansive game. In fact, neither team scored a try in the first half, just racking up points off penalty opportunities allowed near the uprights.
Following Matt Evans two penalty kicks in the opening minutes of the match, the Falcons Zach Pangelinan countered with a long effort of his own shortly thereafter to claw it back to 6-3. 
A scuffle in the West 22 meter area resulted in a penalty to the Falcons about 16 minutes later and Pangelinan made no mistake - slotting it through to tie the match up at 6.
Evans put the West back in the lead as he punished an offside offense by the Falcons with a long kick in the 34th minute. Both Evans and Pangelinan proved perfect in their penalty attempts in the first half, kicking for a halftime score of 9-6, Canada.
In the second half, the USA saw several key scoring opportunities missed as the whistle was blown against Canada West, allowing a couple notable kicks to the corner for the Falcons, which they ultimately loss.
A penalty against Rikus Pretorius in the 48th minute added to the Falcons woe - giving Evans a shot from 50 meters - the wind from a coming storm aiding the effort but just tracking left to keep the score at 9-6.
It wasn’t until the 62nd minute, after frantic period of pressure in the Falcons end included a blocked drop-goal attempt by Evans, that the West recovered with the ball going wide to Tom McKeen. McKeen smashed across for the important score, while Evans converted for a 16-7 lead.
In the 77th minute, with the Falcons needing two scores to win - a side step and slick off-load by Zach Pangelinan saw Volney Rouse cross the line at long last. The much needed conversion was wide however - making the score 16-11.
Despite a penalty against the West in the 79th minute - the Falcons kept the ball in hand as three points would do them no good. Desperate Canadian tackling finally resulted in a turnover ball which fly-half Matt Evans kicked into touch. Referee Dave Smortchevsky blew the whistle for full time and Canada West remained champions for a third straight year.

“We came into this match focused on trying to keep our width on defense,” Coach Ray Lehner said. “We wanted to push up together and had a goal that no one went by without being slowed down, even when we were scrambling that was the objective - that no one goes through untouched.”
 “Another goal was to stay within scoring distance of a win in the last 20 minutes,” Coach Lehner said. “We did that, and I really thought we had a chance right up until the end. It could have gone either way, but it all came back to missing a lot of earlier opportunities.”
“I think Ray (Lehner) has obviously done a lot of work with the boys and they were able to nullify our efforts and kept us away from the tryline for most of the match with great defense,” Canada West Head Coach Tony Medina said following the victory. “Our pack had an especially strong performance today – they played a great game and defended well throughout.”

Canada West 16
Try: Tom McKeen
Penalties: Matt Evans (3)
Conversions: Matt Evans (1)
 
USA 11
Try: Rouse
Penalties: Pangelinan (2)
USA Starting Lineup:
15. Jone Naqica, 14. Jason Pye, 13. Alipate Tuilevuka, 12. Gary Golding, 11. James Gillenwater, 10. Zach Pangelinan, 9. Robbie Shaw, 1. Mate Moeakiola, 2. Joey Brown
3. Shawn Pittman, 4. Lou Stanfill, 5. Ben Wiedemer, 6. Dan La Prevotte, 7. Rikus Pretorius (C), 8. Matt Hawkins
Reserves
16. Saimone Laulaupeaalu (repl. Brown @ 47 min), 17. Mark Kernen (repl. Moeakiola @ 72), 18. Samual Manoa (repl. Wiedemer @ 56), 19. Scott Lavalla (repl. La Prevotte @ 47), 20. Mose Timoteo (repl. Shaw @47), 21. Tyson Meek (repl. Pye @75 min), 22. Volney Rouse (repl. Golding @ 73 min)
 

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