Playoff picture begins to take shape with nine teams already qualifying through day three
Waterloo, Ont. – Nine teams have punched their ticket to the medal round of the 2019 OUA Curling Championships as three days of competition wrapped up Saturday evening at the KW Granite Club.
In women’s action, six squads have already guaranteed their spot in the quarter-finals, including all four spots available in Pool A. The Toronto Varsity Blues (6-0), the Carleton Ravens (4-2), the Waterloo Warriors (4-2) and the Lakehead Thunderwolves (4-2) out of Pool A will all have a chance to medal when the playoffs begin Sunday evening.
The Varsity Blues, the only undefeated team remaining on the women’s side and skipped by Mackenzie Kiemele, secured top spot in the Pool thanks to two more wins on Saturday, defeating the Windsor Lancers 7-5 and Carleton 7-1. They will now face the fourth-seed out of Pool B in the quarter-finals.
The order of the other three spots will come down to the final draw for the Pool on Sunday.
The success of those teams has left the host Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (2-4), the defending OUA Champions skipped by Kaitlin Jewer, on the outside of the medal round as a 1-1 mark on Day 3 wasn’t enough to pull the team back into contention.
Joining those four teams in the playoffs are Pool B teams the Queen’s Gaels (5-1) and the Brock Badgers (5-1). Skipped by Mary Fay and Terri Weeks respectively, the two squads picked up wins in the late draw on Saturday to book their spot in the quarter-finals.
Three teams in Pool B remain in contention for the final two playoff spots as the Guelph Gryphons, Laurentian Voyageurs and McMaster Marauders all remain in the hunt.
In men’s action, three teams are through to the medal round, all in Pool C as the Western Mustangs (5-0), Brock (5-1) and the Carleton Ravens (5-1) will compete in the quarter-finals which open up play on Day 5. The order of how those teams finish is still up in the air but all three will be considered medal contenders once the playoffs get underway.
Two teams in Pool C remain in the mix for the final playoff spot including the host Golden Hawks (3-2), skipped by Jeffrey Wanless, as well as Guelph (3-3). The Hawks face a tough task of looking to knock off Western and Brock on the final day while Guelph will take on winless Windsor.
With two games remaining for all eight teams in Pool D, playoff spots remain up in the air with five teams set to make up the four available medal round positions.
The Ryerson Rams (4-1), Laurentian (4-1) and McMaster (4-1) hold the edge while Waterloo (3-2) and Queen’s (3-2) will try to make a late push on Sunday.
Day 4 of the OUA Curling Championships gets underway at 8 a.m. on Sunday, February 17 with four more round robin draws set to go.
The women’s quarter-finals will get underway at 9 p.m. on Sunday and will determine the four teams that will compete for an OUA title on Monday.
DAY 3 STANDINGS (Italics for playoff teams)
Pool A (Women)
1 - Toronto 6-0
T2 - Carleton 4-2
T2 - Waterloo 4-2
T2 - Lakehead 4-2
T5 - Laurier 2-4
T5 - UOIT 2-4
T7 - Windsor 1-5
T7 - Trent 1-5
Pool B (Women)
T1 - Brock 5-1
T1 - Queen’s 5-1
3 - Guelph 4-2
T4 - Laurentian 3-3
T4 - McMaster 3-3
6 - Ryerson 2-4
T7 - Western 1-5
T7 - Algoma 1-5
Pool C (Men)
1 - Western 5-0
T2 - Brock 5-1
T2 - Carleton 5-1
4 - Laurier 3-2
5 - Guelph 3-3
6 - Lakehead 1-5
T7 - Toronto 0-5
T7 - Windsor 0-5
Pool D (Men)
T1 - Ryerson 4-1
T1 - Laurentian 4-1
T1 - McMaster 4-1
T4 - Waterloo 3-2
T4 - Queen’s 3-2
T6 - Trent 1-4
T6 - UOIT 1-4
8 - Algoma 0-5
