(FREDERICTON, N.B.) Day 2 of the Subway AUS Curling Championships saw a busy day for all participating teams with three draws taking place.  

The women would play three matches each, with the UPEI Panthers coming out on top of the day scoring victories over the Mount Allison Mounties, UNB REDS, and Memorial Sea-Hawks.  

The men closed out round-robin play with two draws on the day. Three teams finished tied for first with the Saint Mary’s Huskies securing the top seed thanks to the draw to the button tiebreaker.  

Draw 2  

Men 

MUN vs UNB  

The Memorial Sea-Hawks captured their first victory of the tournament defeating the UNB REDS 7-4. An impressive takeout by MUN skip Nathan Young allowed the Sea-Hawks to score a triple in the 7th end and secure the 7-4 victory, shaking hands in the 8th end. UNB would score a double in the 4th end to tie the game 3-3. MUN responded with a single in the 5th end before UNB skip Jamie Stewart was able to fend off a 3-point Seahawks steal with a draw to tie the game at 4-4 after six ends. 

Dal vs SMU  

The defending AUS champion Dalhousie Tigers used a dominant start to help them secure a 7-2 win over the SMU Huskies. The Tigers scored a triple in the 4th end to take the 5-0 lead over the Huskies. SMU would answer back with a double in the 5th to bring the game to 5-2. Tigers skip Adam McEachren would then fend off a 3-point steal from the Huskies with a big draw to make it 6-2. The teams would shake hands after the Tigers stole in the 7th end to give them the 7-2 victory.  

Women 

Dal vs UNB  

In a rematch of last year’s AUS women’s final, it came down to the final shot as the Dalhousie Tigers were able to fend off a late comeback from the UNB REDS to win 6-5. The Tigers were able to take advantage of the last stone, scoring doubles in the 2nd, 4th, and 6th ends to give them a 6-4 lead heading into the final two frames. The REDS would respond with a single in the 7th. Then with UNB lying two, Dal skip Marin Callaghan was able to take out one of the UNB stones to hold off the REDS in the final frame.  

MTA vs UPEI  

The UPEI Panthers utilized a great start, stealing 4 ends from the Mounties to capture a 6-2 win. The Mounties did their best to make a comeback, responding with a single in the 5th end before stealing a point from the Panthers in the 6th end to bring the game to 4-2 Panthers, but were unable to complete the comeback.  

MUN vs SMU  

The SMU Huskies rallied from a 4-point deficit to defeat the MUN Sea-Hawks 7-6. The teams were tied 2-2 after two ends before the Sea-Hawks stole a 4-point end in the 3rd. SMU answered with a score in the 4th end before stealing 2 in the 5th end and a single in the 6th to tie the game 6-6. The Huskies would complete the comeback by stealing the 8th end to secure the victory over MUN. 

Draw 3  

Women 

SMU vs MTA  

The SMU Huskies would use a 3-point 7th end to defeat the MTA Mounties 6-3. It was a tight contest with both teams exchanging singles through the first 6 ends before the Huskies triple in the 7th.  

UNB vs UPEI  

In the closest game of the afternoon, the UPEI Panthers were victorious over the UNB REDS 6-5. REDS Skip Jenna Campbell’s last stone came up just short in her draw attempt to give the Panthers the steal in the 8th end and the win. 

Dal vs MUN 

A big 4th end, capped by a great draw by Dalhousie skip Marin Callaghan gave the Tigers 5 points to jump out to the 6-1 lead. 

MUN did their best to answer back, with a double in the 5th end but would end up shaking hands after the Tigers scored a double in the 6th end to take the 8-3 victory. 

Draw 4

Men  

MUN vs DAL  

Memorial handed Dalhousie their first loss of the AUS championships. The Sea-Hawks defeated the Tigers 8-3. 

After a triple by the Tigers in the 4th end, Memorial responded with a 4-point 5th end followed by a steal of two to take a commanding lead and close out the match, shaking hands in the 7th. 

UNB vs SMU

The SMU Huskies were able to come back from a 3-point deficit to defeat the UNB REDS 8-6 in an extra end. The Huskies would jump out to a 3-1 lead over the REDS after scoring a double in the 3rd end and stealing a point in the 4th. UNB would respond by scoring a triple in the 5th end and then stealing 2 in the 6th end to take the 6-3 advantage. 

With the Huskies lying 3 and a chance to close out the match, UNB skip Jamie Stewart was unable to make his final shot, taking out only one of the SMU stones allowing the Huskies to tie the game 6-6 and forcing a 9th end. 

In the extra frame, Stewart had a chance to close out the game with the final stone but couldn’t hit his shot allowing the Huskies to complete the comeback. 

Women 

Dal vs SMU 

The Dal Tigers were victorious in their final match of the day defeating the SMU Huskies 7-4. The Tigers took an early 3-0 lead after scoring a double in the opening end and stealing a point in the 2nd end. 

SMU would respond with a single and a steal in the 4th and 5th ends. The Huskies were able to draw for two in the 6th to tie the game up at 4-4. Dal would add a single in the 7th frame. 

In the final frame, with the Huskies holding the hammer and down by 1, skip Maria Fitzgerald’s last shot curled a bit too far, missing the mark and allowing the Tigers to steal 2 to finish the match. 

MUN vs UPEI 

The UPEI Panthers continued their strong play defeating the MUN Sea-Hawks 5-2. 

The teams traded singles in the opening two ends before the Panthers would steal a point in the 3rd end and a double in the 6th end to take a 4-1 lead. 

Memorial would score a single in the 7th end and would be lying two in the 8th end before UPEI skip Rachel MacLean would close out the match with a take out of a Sea-Hawks stone to take the victory and continue their unbeaten streak. 

UNB vs MTA 

A triple in the first frame helped the UNB REDS jump out to an early lead that they wouldn’t let slip, defeating the MTA Mounties 9-2. 

The REDS built on their lead stealing singles in the 2nd and 3rd frames. The teams would trade singles after that before UNB would finish off the Mounties with a 3-point 7th end to close out the match. 

The women wrap up round-robin play to Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with the host REDS taking on the Sea-Hawks, the undefeated Panthers facing the Huskies, and the Mounties and Tigers doing battle. Followed by the semi-finals at 3 p.m. 

The men kick off semi-final action at 3:00pm as the top-seeded Huskies take on the REDS and Dal facing Memorial.

Source: Evan Richtsfeld for UNB Athletics