MCURL | Voyageurs Bow Out in OUA Quarterfinals
The Laurentian men's curling team headed to Guelph for the OUA Championships over the weekend with their eyes firmly set on the podium. After a solid performance throughout the round robin in the 15-team field, a tough loss in the quarterfinals ended that quest.
The Championship began with a game against the Western Mustangs. After converting for a pair with hammer in the opening end, the Voyageurs give up a score of three in the second before grabbing another deuce in the third end and forcing the Mustangs to a single in the fourth end to head into the break tied at four. After the Mustangs stole a single in the sixth, the Voyageurs took the lead in the seventh after scoring a pair and forced the Mustangs to a single in the eighth, setting the stage for an extra end. The Voyageurs entered that extra end with hammer and made the most of it, tallying two for the 8-6 win.
Their second game of the day saw the Windsor Lancers step on the ice to battle the Voyageurs. It was a very even first half of the game as each team settled for a single when they had hammer, leading to a 2-2 score at the break. Coming out for the second half of the game, the Voyageurs began applying pressure to the Lancers and were rewarded with back-to-back steals for a total of three points and a 5-2 lead after 6. From there, it was simply a matter of keeping the house clean and the Voyageurs walked off the ice with a 6-3 victory.
As defensive as game two appeared to be, their first game of day two would be even more so. In their morning draw against Waterloo, the Voyageurs managed to steal a single in the opening end. Waterloo then proceeded to blank the second before settling for a single in the third end. It was then the Voyageurs' turn to blank as they kept the hammer through the fourth and fifth ends before tallying a single in the sixth. After a Warriors single, the men headed to the final end tied at two with hammer. The team made no mistake, counting two in the end for a 4-2 win and a 3-0 record.
Entering the final draw of the round robin against the Guelph Gryphons, both teams had clinched a spot in the playoffs with 3-0 records but top spot in the pool was on the line. As the men had become accustomed to, the game was very wide defensive with a blank in the first before the teams traded singles over the next three ends, sending them into the break with Guelph up 2-1. In the fifth, Derek Leung and company managed to grab the lead after scoring a pair. Unfortunately, the Gryphons responded with three of their own and never looked back, handing the Voyageurs a 6-4 loss.
As a result of finishing second in their pool, the Voyageurs drew a battle against the second place team in pool C, the Queen's Gaels, in the quarterfinals. Earning the hammer in the first end, Laurentian was only able to count a single before Queen's took the lead in the second with a deuce. The Voyageurs got one back in the third and headed to the fourth end break tied at two. Coming out of the break, the Leung crew managed a steal of one to take the lead but Queen's replied with a pair and then stole a single in the seventh for a 5-3 advantage heading to the last end. Needing at least two to force an extra end, the Voyageurs only managed to count one, ending their championship with a 5-4 loss.
Despite not having the end result they were looking for, the foursome of Mark D'Arcangelo, Patrik Labrosse, Sebastien Whissell, and Derek Leung had a very successful Championship.