2024 CCAA Curling Canada Championships open with exciting contests

The 2024 CCAA Curling Canada Championships began Tuesday at the Aitken University Centre and the Capital Winter Club in Fredericton, NB. Day One was highlighted by the traditional Opening Ceremonies, which also included student-athletes and teams from USPORTS and served as an intermission between the women’s and men’s first draws.

Women's Championship

The Augustana Vikings began their quest for a championship repeat with an opening Draw victory over the Fanshawe Falcons. Fans couldn’t have asked for a more exciting start to the tournament with this one featuring multiple lead changes, steals and multi-point ends.  The Vikings seemed to put this one out of reach with four points in the sixth, but Fanshawe immediately responded with four of their own. The teams traded a few more points across the final ends but the Vikings prevailed 12-10.

Two other matchups proved to be just as exciting as the Concordia Thunder edged the Humber Hawks 8-7 and the upstart Assiniboine Cougars held off the Mohawk Mountaineers 10-9. Concordia and Humber began as a calculated, low scoring affair that opened up in the fifth and came down to the Thunder’s two points in the tenth. ACC and Mohawk traded points right from the start, but the Cougars higher tally ends built a lead that the Mountaineers couldn’t overcome, even with four in the ninth.

The ACAC Champion SAIT Trojans posted the lone statement win of the first draw, downing the PACWEST 7-1.

Men's Championship

The men’s event featured a couple of close contests as well. The Red Deer Kings scored an impressive five points in the second frame, but the Humber Hawks battled back and led 7-6 after seven. The Hawks stole another in the eighth, but the Kings tied things up heading into the final end. The Hawks persevered with a single point in the tenth to claim the match 9-8.

The Sault Cougars and SAIT Trojans featured five lead changes through eight ends, which included each securing a pair of three-point ends. SAIT broke the back and forth by stealing a single in the ninth, which proved to be the defining moment as they won the match 10-7.

The other two contests began competitively as well but the Concordia Thunder and Mohawk Mountaineers each stole several high scoring ends in the back half of their matches. The Thunder were up by just one over the Assiniboine Cougars going into the fifth, but eight CUE points over three ends led to an 11-2 win.

Similarly, Mohawk was knotted up with the NAIT Ooks at the midway point but eight unanswered points through three ends secured the Mountaineers’ 13-5 victory.  

Standings After Day One

More Information:

Championship Website https://www.curling.ca/2024college/

Live Scoring  https://www.curling.ca/scoreboard/#!/competitions/8757

Photos https://ccaasportsacsc.smugmug.com/2024-CCAA-Curling-Canada-Championships