The Niagara Knights women's curling team wrapped up their season this past weekend at the CCAA Curling Championship, hosted by the Fanshawe Falcons at the Highland Curling Club in London. The Knights finished the event with a 2-5 record, which earned them a tie for sixth place with the Holland Hurricanes.
The Knights started slow with some Day 1 jitters. They fell 9-3 to the host, and defending champion, Fanshawe Falcons to open the event. Draw two was a much closer game but the Knights once again found themselves on the losing side of the ledger, dropping a 7-5 decision to the Red Deer Queens. Niagara grabbed an early lead, stealing a point in the second end before giving up four points across the next three ends. They would close the gap one, but ultimately their adversaries from Red Deer were able to put them away.
It was a much different story for the Knights on Day 2. They opened the day against the MacEwan Griffins. The match was tight throughout, remaining tied at five apiece through six ends. However Niagara would score five of the games final six points to finish with a 10-6 victory. With just over an hour break, the Knights would pickup right where they left off against the Confederation Thunderhawks in their fourth game of the championship.
Looking to avenge their bronze medal defeat at the OCAA Championship, the Knights stormed to an 11-0 lead through three ends. They would concede a pair in the fourth end, before adding two more in the fifth end. The teams would shake hands, and the Knights improved their championship record to 2-2. Moving to their final match of the day, a win would put the Knights in great position to make the playoff round. However, they got off to a rocky start and eventually shook hands after five ends, losing 9-1 to the NAIT Ooks.
Entering Day 3 looking for a pair of victories to advance to the semi-final, the Knights were unable to get anything rolling. In their opening match of the day, they dropped an 11-6 decision to the eventual champion Seneca Sting. However, the score was not indicative of the level of play. Seneca jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but the Knights clawed back to make it 7-6 with two ends to play. With last stone in the ninth end, Seneca would extend their lead to two. The Knights had a chance to score two and force an extra end in the 10th, but a rock didn't curl and led to a steal of three for the Sting.
In their final draw of the round robin, the Knights lost 9-6 against the Holland Hurricanes. After officially being eliminated the team came out relatively flat, going down 5-1 early in the contest. The Knights would battle back to get themselves within a single point, but it was ultimately not meant to be as the Hurricanes extended their lead to three and the teams shook hands to signify the end of the CCAA Championship for the Knights.
Results
March 23 L 9-3 v. Fanshawe Falcons
March 23 L 7-5 v. Red Deer Queens
March 24 W 10-6 v. MacEwan Griffins
March 24 W 13-2 v. Confederation Thunderhawks
March 24 L 9-1 v. NAIT Ooks
March 25 L 11-6 v. Seneca Sting
March 25 L 9-6 v. Holland Hurricanes
