Banner Season: Day 2 recap from the OUA Women’s Curling Championship
Sudbury, Ont. (C/O Laurentian Voyageurs) - The intensity ramped up on Day 2 of the OUA Women’s Curling Championship as all 16 teams hit the ice twice more, battling for their spot in Sunday’s quarterfinal. After four fantastic draws, eight teams had punched their tickets to the playoffs.
In draw 5, Brock handed Trent their first loss after they scored three, three times to secure the 9-4 victory and move to 2-1. Despite giving up 4 in the third end to Toronto, McMaster tallied a pair of triples and a 4-ender of their own to down the Varsity Blues 10-7 and move to 2-1 and drop Toronto to 1-2. In a back and forth game between Carleton and York, a steal of two was the difference as the Ravens kept the Lions winless with a 7-4 victory to move to 2-1. In the tightest game of the draw, the Waterloo Warriors needed a deuce in the final end to top the TMU Bold 6-5 and move their record to 2-1 while dropping TMU to 1-2.
In draw 6, Guelph raced out a 9-0 lead over Ontario Tech and cruised to a 9-3 win, moving to 2-1 while dropping the Ridgebacks to 1-2. Windsor founds themselves in a 5-2 hole against Queen’s after six ends but, after being forced to a single in the seventh, the Lancers produced a steal of three in the eighth to squeak out a 6-5 win for their first victory, dropping the Gaels to 1-2 in the process. Western and Algoma produced the event’s first extra end game and it was the Mustangs getting their first win, prevailing 7-6 over the Thunderbirds. In the Championship’s battle of undefeated teams, Laurentian, on the strength of two steals, secured a 5-3 victory over Laurier to become the first team to clinch a quarterfinal spot.
Draw 7 saw only one of the four games go the distance. After blanking the first two ends, McMaster rhymed off six straight points to secure a 9-1 win over Trent and lock down first place in Pool B. Brock jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two ends, which paced them to an 11-4 win over Toronto. Waterloo scored in each of the first five ends as they secured a 9-1 win over York while TMU tallied a single in the final end to score a 4-3 win over Carleton.
In the final draw of the round robin, Laurier stole 14 points to begin the game before Western took 2 in the 6th, leading to handshakes and locking up pool D for the Golden Hawks. Laurentian scored a 9-5 victory over Algoma to finish 4-0 and take top spot in pool A. Windsor rhymed off three straight steals to earn a 5-4 win over Ontario Tech and Queen’s stole three in the seventh to down Guelph 10-6 and grab the last quarterfinal spot.
With the round robin complete, the quarterfinal matchups were set. They begin at 9am and will feature:
#1 Laurentian vs #8 Queen's
#2 McMaster vs #7 Carleton
#3 Waterloo vs #6 Guelph
#4 Laurier vs #5 Brock
They winners will square off in the semi-finals, scheduled for 12:30pm on Sunday before the medal games at 4pm.