The OUA champion University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's curling team split the first two draws on Day 1 of the 2014 CIS/CCA curling championship on Wednesday, March 19 in Regina.
Draw 1: Toronto vs Laurier
Laurier, skipped by Aaron Squires, got out to an early 1-0 lead, but Evan Lilly and the Blues added three points in the second end. The two teams exchanged singles in the third and fifth to keep the game close, but the Hawks surged ahead with three points in the sixth end to take a 5-4 lead.
Lilly responded with a great hit and roll to end the seventh and evened it up once again, but Squires hit for three in the eighth and U of T was unable to recover.
"We dominated the first half and split the scoring ends evenly," said Varsity Blues head coach John Rudd. "We had a couple of unfortunate big ends against us but apart from that our guys played solid and we are going to be better next time."
End 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 TOTAL
Laurier 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 3 0 0 8
Toronto 0 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 7
Draw 2: Toronto vs Regina
The Blues got out to a slow start, trailing Regina and skip Catlin Schneider 4-0 after two ends; however the OUA champs answered the call with singles in the third and fifth and brought the game within one (4-3) after stealing a point in the sixth end.
Regina took two in the seventh, but it was all U of T from there as the Blues took two in the eighth and stole singles in both the ninth and 10
th ends to earn a 7-6 victory.
End 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 TOTAL
Regina 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6
Toronto 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 1 1 7
Schedule (all times EST)
Wednesday, March 19
4:30pm Laurier 8, Toronto 7
10:00pm Toronto 7, Regina 6
Thursday, March 20
12:00pm Toronto vs Manitoba
5:00pm Toronto vs Memorial
Friday, March 21
11:00am Toronto vs Brock
4:00pm Toronto vs Alberta
Saturday, March 22
11:00am Toronto vs Saint Mary's
4:00pm Tiebreakers (if necessary)
9:00pm Semifinals
Sunday, March 23
11:00am Semifinals (if second tie-breakers required)
7:00pm Championship Final
