The Niagara Knights men's and women's curling teams kicked off the OCAA Championship yesterday in Thunder Bay at the Port Arthur Curling Club.

The Knights women ruled the day on Thursday, finishing with a 2-0 record to put themselves into first place. Niagara opened the tournament with a 9-7 win over the Fleming Knights. After trailing most of the match the Knights scored four in the sixth end and another two in the final end to secure the victory. Niagara followed up that performance with a 6-3 victory over the Humber Hawks. The Knights started slow in the contest, giving up a point in each of the first three ends before blanking the fourth to go down 3-0. However, they would respond with six points across the final for ends of the match to secure a 6-3 victory.

The women return to the ice Friday afternoon at 8:00am against Fanshawe and again at 3:30 pm against Confederation. They will close out the round robin on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm against the Seneca Sting. The top four teams following the round robin will advance to the semi-finals on Sunday morning, with an opportunity to compete for the gold medal on Sunday afternoon.

The men were not as fortunate on the tournament's opening day dropping both of their matches. They dropped an 8-2 decision against the Mohawk Mountaineers to kick off the tournament. A slow start in their second match of the day saw the Humber Hawks score five in the first end. The Knights were unable to recover and eventually dropped a 10-2 decision to the Hawks.

The men's team hits three times on day two as they look to rebound.  They take on the Sault Cougars at 8:00 am, Confederation Thunderhawks at 11:30 am, and Fanshawe Falcons at 3:30 pm. They will close out the round robin on Saturday with games against the Fleming Knights and St. Clair Saints.