Bears and Pandas curling successfully defends Western University Championship
By Connor Hood
EDMONTON - Going a combined 11-1 over the three-day tournament, the University of Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas Curling teams successfully defended their Western University Curling Championship titles, Sunday afternoon at Saville Community Sports Centre.
Along with the Western Curling titles, both Alberta curling teams have qualified for the Curling Canada/U SPORTS University Championship, hosted by Lakehead University, March 19-22 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The Alberta Pandas are also the two-time defending U SPORTS National Champions.
The Regina Cougars men and women’s curling teams also qualified for nationals, by virtue of their second place finish in both the men and women’s draws in Edmonton. Brandon University and the Lethbridge Pronghorns finished third and fourth.
The Alberta Golden Bears won their second-straight Western title, and fifth in six years, with a perfect 6-0 record, three games ahead of both Regina and Brandon. In fact, a tie-breaker was needed between the Regina Cougars and Brandon Bobcats to determine the final qualifier, as both teams finished with 3-3 records. The Cougars scored one in the tenth end, beating Brandon 7-6, and advancing to the National Championship.
On the women’s half, Alberta’s 5-1 record was enough to give them a second-straight Western University title, one game better than the 4-2 Regina Cougars. Regina was the lone team to defeat Alberta this weekend, knocking off the perennial powerhouse 6-5 in draw three. However, it was Alberta who came out on top in the final draw of the tournament, defeating the Cougars 9-8 to capture the championship.
The Pandas also defeated the Brandon Bobcats 9-4 on Sunday, setting up the championship-deciding game on Sunday afternoon.
The Golden Bears championship run wasn’t tested nearly as much, as the reigning U SPORTS Silver Medalists outscored their opponents 50-11 over the six-match tournament, with a 3-1 win over Regina being the closest match of the weekend.
The Pandas will aim for the third-straight Canadian title, while the Bears will aim for a second championship in three seasons when they travel to Lakehead University for the U SPORTS Championship in two weeks.
Source: https://www.ualberta.ca/