Western Women's Canadian Football League championship

Dylan Purcell, LETHBRIDGE HERALD  MONDAY, 09 JULY 2012

The Lethbridge Steel are heading to the Western Women's Canadian Football League championship game thanks to a 20-0 win over the Edmonton Storm Saturday at the University of Lethbridge Stadium.

But it wasn't as easy as it sounds.

A long layoff led to an imprecise start for the Steel offence, but all that changed with just under a minute left in the first half.

The Steel's rookie quarterback, Becky Heninger, ran deep down the right sideline on a keeper play and appeared to be huddled out-of-bounds by approximately six members of the Storm. Fortunately for Lethbridge, Heninger saw the white paint of the sideline, stopped on a dime she clearly borrowed from NFL great Barry Sanders, spun around and reversed field.

A block from Chloe Bryant gave her a crucial few steps and, with her teammates keeping the Storm's thunderheads at bay, she romped into the endzone for a 6-0 Steel lead and, in one moment, redeemed a mediocre first half.

Heninger said she had a tackler bearing down on her and knew if she could get low enough, she'd elude her at the sideline. A stutter step, and with Bryant in her field of vision and a cadre of hyperactive teammates rushing downfield, the former University of Lethbridge Pronghorn point guard said all that was left was to get the points.

"That was basically what was going through my head," she said. "I knew if I could get past that one girl, everyone was blocking hard and they did and Chloe, Chloe was right down there for me and I knew she was going to block right and I knew we were in."

When asked how far she was from the sideline when she screeched to halt, Heninger simply held up her pinkie finger and said, "about that far."

"I stopped and I saw it and I was like 'Let's go in."

A point-after converted, and one defensive stop later and the Steel had all the points they'd need thanks to a tough defensive effort led once again by linebacker Sarah Tivadar. The thunderous linebacker's biggest play came early in the third quarter, when she snuffed out an Edmonton drive with a knifing run into the backfield on third down. The midfield hit - and subsequent piledrive of Brenna Bouchard - ended what looked like a solid series for the Storm. The Storm chewed up the clock with a long but fruitless drive in the first half. They never got another chance.

It was one of a number of backfield tackles Tivadar managed, each one culminating in a thudding piledrive of her opponent.

"Coach, he moved me to a different angle, told me some different tips," she said. "We had coach (Mike) Nightingale, who coached CCH, come out on Wednesday night and he helped out linebacker coaching, I learned a few good tips from him and I just applied it to the game."

Nightingale, who coached Catholic Central to a provincial title and was also a Vanier Cup-winning defensive back, would have loved to have a linebacker like Tivadar on his teams. The third-year defensive stalwart has added savvy to an always physical game and has become an emotional leader for an elite WWCFL defence.

"I couldn't be prouder of my girls right now," said Tivadar after the shutout win. "I wanted to go in tears, but it's football, right?"

The second half a more focused Steel side emerge, and after Tivadar's stop, the other aspects of the game got rolling. On special teams, kicker-safety Carly Dyck did her best Hulk impression, smashing the Storm's top threat, Lindsay Ertman, with an open-field tackle on a punt return. Kendall Roche gathered in a Storm fumble - their second recovery of the day - which led to a Becky Pater-centric drive. The power back set herself up with a nice gain inside before strolling in for a one-yard scoring play and a 13-0 lead.

Dyck took centre stage again, running a punt back, but it was called for offside. She redeemed her offside teammate moments later when she scooched down the sideline for a 57-yard touchdown run on the final play of the third quarter. She converted her own score to clinch the final points of the day.

"It feels great," said quarterbacks coach Kessie Stefanyk after the game. "To know how hard all the girls worked, how hard the coaches worked, and get this win, finally, it feels great."

The Steel take on the Prairie Conference champion on July 14 in Saskatoon. The Prairie title game is played today between the Regina Riot and the Saskatoon Valkyries.