A penalty kick decided the gold medal winner in the tier 2 provincial high school rugby championship and left the Cochrane Bears with a silver.

The Bears, a joint team of Bow Valley and Cochrane high, fell to the Henry Wise Wood Warriors, of Calgary, in the final, 10-7, on June 10 in Strathmore. Played in a downpour with gusting winds, the Warriors took a 7-0 lead in the first half, but the Bears controlled the second half and scored early to tie the game.

Cochrane came close on several occasions to score another try. With the Bears short one man serving a yellow card penalty, the Warriors gained ground on a drive late in the game and capped it off with a successful penalty kick on an obstruction call. With three minutes left, the Bears pushed hard but couldn't beat the clock.

"I think we took three maybe four unnecessary penalities in the last three minutes of the game that turned the tide," says Bears head coach Karl Bauer. "They got into our half once in the second half and when they did they made it count and that's what matters in the end. Henry Wise Wood played the best game out of the tournament. I think they were the better team today, but just by a fraction."

"I'm really proud of the boys. I think they all played spectacularly and the subs did really well when they came in. We've played the best we ever have for Cochrane high schools. The boys have officially gone further in provincials than any other team in history."

Prior to this, the Bears mauled the Lloydminster Barons, 67-3, in their opening game before facing the tough and big defence of Sturgeon Spirits of Edmonton. Technical skill won the game for the Bears  14-5, but the game took a slight physical toll with one serious injury and other players needing a bit of physio.

"We had to play an extremely tough physical team to get the finals that banged us up a little bit and they came out today and they reset extremely well. I'm very proud of them but sometimes it doesn't go your way."

Bauer was impressed with the Sturgeon defence and considers it the best he has seen

"Sturgeon was an extremely large team, it almost looked like we were playing against 14 forwards and a quarterback.  They played close and played a tough physical game and in both halves they ran our boys ragged.  They put up an amazing defence the entire game, the best defence I've seen, defence that would shame both Alberta rep teams."

The season was tough by design to make the Bears a contender for the provincials and it paid off, but with 16 players aging out they'll be going into rebuilding mode for next season.

"We're making a big push for new recruits, hopefully getting this far helps us with that, but we've got some big shoes to fill."