WCURL | Voyageurs Title Quest Comes Up Centimeters Short
The Laurentian women's curling team headed to Oshawa this weekend for their OUA Championship. After a strong pool-play portion of the event, the Voyageurs earned their way out of the 16-team field into the Championship game where their bid for a second OUA banner fell just short.
The team's quest for a banner began with a dominating performance over the Algoma Thunderbirds. After blanking the first end, the Voyageurs converted with scores of three, two, and three over the next three ends. The Thunderbirds were able to get on the board in the fifth with a single but the Voyageurs answered with six in the sixth, which lead to handshakes and a 14-1 win.
The second draw of the day saw the women come up against a bit of a stronger side in the Laurier Golden Hawks. After forcing Laurier to a single in the first end, the Voyageurs blanked the next two ends before scoring a deuce in the fourth, heading into the break up 2-1. The women came out of the break and promptly stole a pair, putting themselves in the driver's seat, up 4-1 with three ends to go. The women did not allow the Golden Hawks to put a crooked number on the board the rest of the way and finished day 1 with a 5-3 victory to sit at 2-0.
Day 2 started out as a duplicate of day 1. Against the York Lions, the women opened by stealing a pair before forcing the Lions to a single. After settling for one of their own in the fourth, the Voyageurs stole another pair in the fifth and were in the driver's seat. A force and another deuce led to handshakes after 7 ends and a 7-2 win.
In their final pool game, after already clinching a quarterfinal berth, the Voyageurs struggled to find their groove against the McMaster Marauders. After watching the Marauders steal one in the first, Laurentian was forced to a single in the second before McMaster converted for three and then stole a single, heading into the break with a 5-1 lead on the blue and gold. After settling for a single in the fifth, the women watched the team in maroon convert for three more and an 8-2 win in six ends.
Despite a strong 3-1 record in pool play, the Voyageurs had to settle for the final playoff spot due to a combination of other teams performing equally as well and their last stone draw ranking trailing behind the field. That set up a quarterfinal matchup with the top-ranked Trent Excalibur on Saturday night.
In the quarterfinal, it was a defensive battle from the open rock. After trading singles in the first two ends, a steal of one in the third gave the Voyageurs the upper hand in the game. After a blank in the fourth, the teams traded singles over the next three ends, sending the game into the final end tied at three and the Voyageurs holding the hammer. A Bella Lehtimaki-Croisier double with her final stone would secure the all-important point for the Voyageurs and punch their ticket to Sunday with a 4-3 win.
On Sunday morning, in the semi-final, the Voyageurs found themselves up against the TMU Bold. Just like the game before, this one was shaping up to be a very defensive game. After starting with a pair of blank ends, the Voyageurs were able to force the Bold to a single in the third before blanking the fourth. The teams entered the break with the Bold up 1-0 but the Voyageurs held the hammer. However, TMU managed to steal one in the fifth to take a 2-0 lead. Not to be deterred, the Voyageurs answered with three of their own in the sixth. After giving up a pair in the seventh, Laurentian found themselves down one with hammer heading into the final end. After Bella's double-takeout with her first left the Voyageurs sitting three, TMU wrecked on the guard with their last and the Voyageurs were championship-game bound with a 6-4 win.
The championship game set up a rematch with McMaster but the Voyageurs were looking to flip the script from the morning before. After the McMaster draw against one was wide, the Voyageurs opened up with a steal of one in the first. A couple of blanked ends later, the Marauders' draw was heavy and the LU women doubled their lead, heading into the break up 2-0 despite not yet having hammer. After Lehtimaki-Croisier's last rock in the fifth end was unable to roll under cover, McMaster hit and stuck for the deuce, tying things up at two. Back and forth singles meant that Laurentian and McMaster were headed to the final end tied at three with the blue and gold holding the hammer; the exact same situation as their quarterfinal matchup. With McMaster sitting shot at the side of the button, and the draw path closed off, Laurentian was forced to try a delicate little chip for the win. Unfortunately, they caught the rock too thin and spilled out, giving McMaster the steal and a 4-3 win.
The silver medal-winning quintet of Julia Deklein, Abby Deschene, Piper Lehtimaki-Croisier, Bella Lehtimaki-Croisier, and Katie Vandeloo will now set their sights on the U SPORTS Championships, which is being hosted at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex beginning on March 15th.