MCUR | Voyageurs Nearly Miss Out on Quarter Final Birth

Day 2 of the OUA Championships in Guelph saw the Laurentian Voyageurs men's curling team play two more games to cap off the round-robin portion of the championship, with matchups against the Trent Excalibur and the TMU Bold on the schedule.

In the first game of the day, the Voyageurs faced off against the Trent Excalibur, aiming to pick up their second win of the tournament and inch closer to a spot in the quarterfinals on Sunday. The game began slowly, with the score standing at just 1-0 in favor of Trent after two ends. Laurentian would then use the hammer to score two points in the third end, taking the lead. However, things quickly took a turn as Trent responded by scoring one point in the fourth end and stealing another in the fifth, regaining the lead at 3-2. Laurentian tied it up in the sixth, but the Excalibur took a crucial two points in the seventh end, going up 5-3 heading into the eighth and final end.

A win for the Voyageurs seemed unlikely at this point, but they refused to back down. In a nearly perfect final end, the Voyageurs managed to score three points, winning the match in dramatic fashion 6-5 and improving to 2-1 in the tournament.

After the thrilling victory earlier in the day, Laurentian aimed to carry that momentum into their final round-robin match against the TMU Bold, with their spot in the quarterfinals still up in the air. The game started well for the Voyageurs, who, with the hammer, took an early 2-0 lead. However, things began to unravel. After blanking the second and third ends, TMU responded by scoring two points in the fourth end with the hammer, followed by steals in the fifth, sixth, and seventh ends, taking a 6-2 lead. This would be the final score, as the game was called after the seventh end, with Laurentian finishing the round robin with a record of 2-2.

Unfortunately for Laurentian, after going through the tie-breaking scenarios for the teams at 2-2, the Voyageurs finished just outside of the quarterfinals, marking the premature end of their tournament. This also brought an end to their bid to qualify for the U SPORTS National Tournament, which will be held in Lethbridge, Alberta, later this year.

- Andrew Lemieux