February 3, 2009
LADY VEES QUALIFY FOR OUA CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Laurentian Lady Vees and Voyageurs curling teams wrapped up the round robin portion of their season this past weekend as they competed in the OUA crossover. The Lady Vees posted an impressive 4-1 record, and 6-2 overall which qualified them for the OUA Curling Championships. The men were also impressive, going 3-2, for a 3-5 overall record, but coming up just short of a tie-breaker to get them into the OUA championship.
The OUA crossover, hosted by the Brock Badgers at the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club, began on Friday night with both Laurentian squads taking on the Windsor Lancers. The Lancer women, led by former Canadian junior champion Paige Matte (Antigonish, N.S.), played a strong game and handed the Lady Vees their second loss of the season. The Voyageur men came out on fire, knowing that they needed to be 4-1 at worst if they had any hope to qualify for the OUA championships, defeating Windsor.
Saturday turned out to be a long day following some scheduling shuffles. The Laurentian squads would have to play three games, starting first thing in the morning against host Brock. The women came out with a point to prove as they took on the struggling Badgers. Following a five ender in end two the Lady Vees did not look back as they won their first of what turned out to be four in a row. The Voyageurs saw themselves in tough as Brock sat at 2-2 and wanted to impress on their home ice. It took a double take-out from Voyageur skip Sandy MacEwan (Sudbury, Ont.) in the eighth end to propel the Voyageurs to victory, and their second straight win.
Following a brief lunch break, the Laurentian teams stepped back on the ice at 1 p.m. to face the Waterloo Warriors. The Warrior women were the first of three games for the Lady Vees against teams that sat tied or ahead of them in the standings, a test that would go a long way to determining whether the Lady Vees were OUA championship worthy. The Warriors were no match as the Lady Vees gained momentum, and moved to 4-2. The men again facing an uphill climb took a giant step as they defeated the Waterloo warriors for their third straight victory, and to move to their record to 3-3.
Saturday night would be the toughest test for the Laurentian curlers as both teams faced the defending OUA and CIS champions, the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Lady Vees could secure a berth in the OUA championship with a victory; a loss would mean they would have to beat undefeated Western on Sunday morning to get in. The Lady Vees controlled momentum of the game, although it got very interesting late, as the Laurentian was up two playing the last end with last rock advantage with many rocks were in play. It turned out Lady Vees skip Amanda Gates (Sudbury, Ont.) would not have to throw her last rock, and the Lady Vees would punch their ticket to Peterborough. The men ran into a road block as the Golden Hawks didn't miss much if any putting the Voyageurs behind the eight ball. MacEwan made a couple big shots to keep the Voyageurs in the game but it would not be enough as the Golden Hawks would win. The loss however didn't eliminate the Voyageurs as they would be able to qualify for a tie-breaker by beating Western on Sunday, and getting one of a number of combinations of help from other teams losing.
Sunday morning was again an early wake up call, and with the Lady Vees already having clinched their spot in the OUA Championship they faced the undefeated Western Mustangs with the hope of making a statement. In a back and forth affair, the Lady Vees saw themselves up one in the final end of play, it took a near miraculous shot, a double raise tap to the button, by the Mustangs skip to force an extra end. The Lady Vees would remain unfazed and win the game in the extra end to run their winning streak to four games and clinch second place heading to Peterborough. The Laurentian men needing to win to get into a tie-breaker game also faced the Mustangs who were sitting atop the standings, in a game of inches, the Voyageurs seemed to find themselves on the wrong side of the inch, and Western, playing well made them pay. The Voyageurs fell in seven ends finishing off their OUA season with a 3-5 record.
"We are really proud of the girls and I think they will impress some people at the OUA championships," said acting coach Brian Gates. "The boys gave it a valiant effort and knew they had to post an impressive record to have any chance, and they played well."
Next up for the Laurentian Lady Vees will be the OUA Curling Championships hosted by the Trent Excalibur at the Peterborough Curling Club in Peterborough, Ont. on Feb. 7 and 8.
Source: Voyageurs Athletics
The OUA crossover, hosted by the Brock Badgers at the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club, began on Friday night with both Laurentian squads taking on the Windsor Lancers. The Lancer women, led by former Canadian junior champion Paige Matte (Antigonish, N.S.), played a strong game and handed the Lady Vees their second loss of the season. The Voyageur men came out on fire, knowing that they needed to be 4-1 at worst if they had any hope to qualify for the OUA championships, defeating Windsor.
Saturday turned out to be a long day following some scheduling shuffles. The Laurentian squads would have to play three games, starting first thing in the morning against host Brock. The women came out with a point to prove as they took on the struggling Badgers. Following a five ender in end two the Lady Vees did not look back as they won their first of what turned out to be four in a row. The Voyageurs saw themselves in tough as Brock sat at 2-2 and wanted to impress on their home ice. It took a double take-out from Voyageur skip Sandy MacEwan (Sudbury, Ont.) in the eighth end to propel the Voyageurs to victory, and their second straight win.
Following a brief lunch break, the Laurentian teams stepped back on the ice at 1 p.m. to face the Waterloo Warriors. The Warrior women were the first of three games for the Lady Vees against teams that sat tied or ahead of them in the standings, a test that would go a long way to determining whether the Lady Vees were OUA championship worthy. The Warriors were no match as the Lady Vees gained momentum, and moved to 4-2. The men again facing an uphill climb took a giant step as they defeated the Waterloo warriors for their third straight victory, and to move to their record to 3-3.
Saturday night would be the toughest test for the Laurentian curlers as both teams faced the defending OUA and CIS champions, the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Lady Vees could secure a berth in the OUA championship with a victory; a loss would mean they would have to beat undefeated Western on Sunday morning to get in. The Lady Vees controlled momentum of the game, although it got very interesting late, as the Laurentian was up two playing the last end with last rock advantage with many rocks were in play. It turned out Lady Vees skip Amanda Gates (Sudbury, Ont.) would not have to throw her last rock, and the Lady Vees would punch their ticket to Peterborough. The men ran into a road block as the Golden Hawks didn't miss much if any putting the Voyageurs behind the eight ball. MacEwan made a couple big shots to keep the Voyageurs in the game but it would not be enough as the Golden Hawks would win. The loss however didn't eliminate the Voyageurs as they would be able to qualify for a tie-breaker by beating Western on Sunday, and getting one of a number of combinations of help from other teams losing.
Sunday morning was again an early wake up call, and with the Lady Vees already having clinched their spot in the OUA Championship they faced the undefeated Western Mustangs with the hope of making a statement. In a back and forth affair, the Lady Vees saw themselves up one in the final end of play, it took a near miraculous shot, a double raise tap to the button, by the Mustangs skip to force an extra end. The Lady Vees would remain unfazed and win the game in the extra end to run their winning streak to four games and clinch second place heading to Peterborough. The Laurentian men needing to win to get into a tie-breaker game also faced the Mustangs who were sitting atop the standings, in a game of inches, the Voyageurs seemed to find themselves on the wrong side of the inch, and Western, playing well made them pay. The Voyageurs fell in seven ends finishing off their OUA season with a 3-5 record.
"We are really proud of the girls and I think they will impress some people at the OUA championships," said acting coach Brian Gates. "The boys gave it a valiant effort and knew they had to post an impressive record to have any chance, and they played well."
Next up for the Laurentian Lady Vees will be the OUA Curling Championships hosted by the Trent Excalibur at the Peterborough Curling Club in Peterborough, Ont. on Feb. 7 and 8.
Source: Voyageurs Athletics
