MALE: Evan Lilly, Men's Curling (Third Year, Sciences, Sudbury, Ont.)
Evan Lilly skipped the Western Mustangs men's curling team to their second consecutive OUA championship this past weekend, Feb. 13-14, and his skills were on display throughout the competition.
Lilly, an All-Canadian at the second position at the 2009 CIS/CCA national curling championships and a 2010 OUA second-team all-star, was called upon to skip this year's team at the beginning of the season.
"He has seamlessly assumed the mantle of leadership inherent in the position," said head coach Rory Munro. "Evan was hugely instrumental in Western winning the OUA banner, and he had to rise to the occasion with regularity this weekend, pulling us out of the fire on more than one occasion."
Lilly shot a jaw-dropping 83% against the best teams in the OUA. In Western's semifinal game against Laurentian, Lilly engineered an eighth end steal and sealed the deal with a clutch last rock come-around to the four foot in a thrilling 6-4 victory.
In the final game which pitted the Mustangs against Toronto's Varsity Blues, Lilly made the game-winning shot in extra ends. With the score tied at 8 and only his last rock to come, Lilly looked at three Toronto rocks nibbling the four foot circle. His pressure-laden out-turn draw to the full four foot was thrown with the cool resolve of a champion and the Mustangs were rewarded with the 9-8 victory and the 2010 OUA banner.
