DAY FIVE RECAP

OSHAWA, Ont. – A steal of one in the eighth end led the Brock Badgers to a 6-5 win over the Western Mustangs in men's quarterfinal action at the OUA Curling Championship on Monday at the Oshawa Golf and Curling Club.
 
With the win the Badgers moved on to a semifinal showdown with the defending champion Laurier Golden Hawks, and eliminated the Mustangs from medal contention.
 
The Mustangs started off strong in Monday's contest, stealing a single point in the first end before stealing two in both the second and third ends to take a 5-0 lead after three.
 
The Badgers responded with a single of their own in the fourth, and then repeated the feat in the fifth and sixth to cut the Mustangs lead, before tying the game with two points in the seventh. Brock then booked their trip to the semifinals with another single point in the eighth to take a 6-5 win.


DAY FOUR RECAP

OSHAWA, Ont. – Day four of the 2017 OUA Curling Championships saw a light schedule for the Mustangs, with both the men's and women's team competing in only one match each.  The men fell to Queen's, while the women were eliminated from title contention after a loss to Lakehead.
 
The men began their game against Queen's with a scoreless first end, while the Gaels held last rock and used it to take two points in the second.
 
Western responded with a single point in the third, but Queen's responded by putting another two on the board in the following end. Western scored another single point before the end of the match, while the Gaels added another four points to their total to take a 6-3 win.
 
With the loss Western holds a 5-2 record heading into the quarterfinals, sitting third in Pool A. Laurier leads with an undefeated 7-0 record, followed by Toronto with six wins and one loss. McMaster rounds out the top four with their 4-3 record. Pool B is led by Toronto (6-1), while Brock sits second (5-2). Carleton, Waterloo, and Ryerson are entangled in a tie for third, as each team holds a 4-3 record.
 
The women's team was the first Western squad on the ice on Sunday, taking on the Lakehead Thunderwolves at 11 a.m.
 
Western held the lead over Lakehead for most of the match, and it wasn't until the final ends that the Thunderwolves were able to overtake the purple and white.
 
The teams each earned a single point in the first two ends, but the Mustangs burst ahead with a three-point performance in the third. Lakehead was able to add another two singles in ends four and five, matched by one point by Western in the sixth.
 
Ends seven and eight were where the best of the match for the Thunderwolves, who took away a combined five points to claim the match by an 8-5 score. The loss will bring an end to the 2017 banner campaign, with the Mustangs finishing the tournament with a 1-6 record. 

DAY THREE RECAP

OSHAWA, Ont. – Day three of the OUA Curling Championships saw the men's team pick up two wins to sit second in Pool A and secure a spot in the playoffs, while the women's team was defeated by Laurier and Ryerson on Saturday at the Oshawa Golf and Curling Club.
 
The men will head into tomorrow's action with a 5-1 record, sitting second in Pool A behind the Laurier Golden Hawks. Toronto's 5-0 record currently leads Pool B.
 
Western opened the day with a dominant 8-2 win over the Windsor Lancers, which they followed up with a 4-0 defeat of McMaster.
 
The Mustangs controlled nearly the entire match against the Lancers, only twice allowing Windsor on the board.
 
Ends three and six both saw the Lancers record one point, while the Mustangs pulled two steals in addition to picking up points in every end in which they held the hammer. The first end saw Western take a single point, which they followed up with two points in the following end.
 
The Mustangs were back on the board in ends four and five, taking two and one point respectively. A two-point performance in the final frame sealed the deal, giving Western an 8-2 victory.
 
The team carried the momentum over into their final game of the day to top the Marauders by a score of 4-0.
 
Western opened up the match by taking two points in the first, and stealing one in the second. They maintained the 3-0 lead until the sixth, when they added one more point to take the match.  
 
The women's team began their day by facing off against the Golden Hawks – who are in search of the program's fourth straight title – and came to a close against Ryerson.
 
A scoreless first end opened up the match against Laurier, allowing the Mustangs to retain the hammer and take three points from the following end for an early lead. The Golden Hawks responded with two points in the third end, but the Mustangs quickly shot back for a single point in the fourth.
 
Trailing by two heading into the fifth end, Laurier pulled ahead over the final frames of the contest. Laurier put up five more points, scoring two in both the fifth and sixth, along with a single in the seventh to take a 7-4 win over the Mustangs.
 
Western's 5:30 p.m. matchup against the Rams began in similar fashion to their first game of the day, with neither team putting any points on the board in the first end. However, unlike the previous game, the scoresheet would remain blank until end four when Ryerson secured three points.
 
The Mustangs responded with a single in the fifth, only to have the Rams take another three points from end six. One more point would go on the board for the Mustangs in the seventh end, with Ryerson taking a 6-2 victory.
 
The Mustangs will head into tomorrow's action with a tournament record of 1-5 to sit seventh in Pool A. Carleton continues to lead with a perfect 6-0 record, matched only by the Badgers who compete in Pool B.

DAY TWO RECAP

OSHAWA, Ont. – Day two of the OUA Curling Championships saw the men drop their first game of the tournament to end that day with a 3-1 record, while the women's team will head into day three with one win and three losses.

The men began their day of competition with an 11 a.m. matchup against Algoma, followed by a 9 p.m. game against Laurier.

Western started off with the hammer in their game against Algoma, using the advantage to take three points in the first end. The Thunderbirds shot back in the second to get on the scoreboard with one point, but the Mustangs quickly responded.

End three saw Western add another two to their total before stealing one in the fourth.

Before the end of the match the Mustangs secured another five points from ends four and seven, while Algoma could only pick up two from the sixth end. The 11 points notched by Western was enough to win them the match, ultimately topping Algoma by eight points.

The second matchup saw the Mustangs face stiff competition from the two-time defending champions in the Golden Hawks. No points went recorded until the fifth end, when Laurier finally broke on the board with a single point.

Western immediately responded with a single of their own to tie the game in the following end.

End seven saw the Golden Hawks take one more point, and they sealed the deal with a steal of one in the eighth to take a 3-1 win.

Western now holds a tournament record of 3-1, matching Queen's and McMaster for second place in Pool A. The Golden Hawks hold first place at 4-0, while Pool B is led by the 3-0 Varsity Blues.

The women's day began with a matchup against the undefeated Carleton Ravens and finished with a nail-biter against Laurentian.

Just as they had in their previous games, Carleton quickly racked up points with only one end escaping them.

They got off to a fast start by taking two points in the opening end, followed by singles in the third and fourth. Western took a single point from the second end, but Carleton continued to forge ahead.

The final ends saw the Ravens add another five points to their total, securing a 9-1 victory.

Western's second matchup of the day saw the Mustangs be narrowly edged out by Laurentian, falling by a score of 7-6.

A purple and white steal opened up the game for a three point first end, but the Voyageurs pushed back by taking four points over the second and third.

The Mustangs responded with two points in the fourth, but Laurentian refused the bend. The Voyageurs took the following two ends, receiving one point in the fifth and two in the sixth. Their performance gave them a two-point advantage heading into the final frame of the match, but the Mustangs could only secure one.

Western will head into the third day of action with an overall record of 1-3, entangling the Mustangs in a tie for fifth place in Pool A with Ryerson and Lakehead. Carleton leads the pool with a 4-0 record, while Pool B has seen the Badgers also go undefeated.

DAY ONE RECAP

OSHAWA, Ont. – Day One of the 2017 OUA Curling Championships saw the Western Mustangs men's team go undefeated with a pair of victories, while the women's team split their opening two contests.
 
The men's team secured the Mustangs first win of the Championship defeating the Trent Excalibur 6-4 in the first matchup of the day for both teams, following up with a 6-2 victory over Lakehead.
 
The Excalibur jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, starting things off with a steal of one in each of the first two ends. Western fired back with three points in the third and added another two in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead heading into the final few ends of the contest.
 
Trent immediately cut into that margin, scoring two in the sixth to cut the Mustangs lead to 5-4. However, it was Western that recorded the final point of the contest, scoring one in the seventh end to take a 6-4 win.
 
The team's second game of the day had them paired off against the Thunderwolves, and saw the Mustangs come out with a 6-2 win.
 
Western put one point on the board in the second end, and it would remain the only mark on the scoresheet until the fifth when Western added another two points.
 
Lakehead finally got on the board in the sixth end with two points of their own, but a three-point finale in the seventh secured the purple and white victory. The 6-2 win puts Western at the top of Pool A heading into the second day of competition, matching the 2-0 records of Laurier and Queen's.
 
On the women's side, Western kicked off the day with an early 8 a.m. start against the Trent Excalibur, followed by a 6 p.m. contest against the hosting Ridgebacks.
 
Trent opened the match with the hammer and used the advantage to secure two points right off the bat. The Mustangs answered back with a single point in the next end, while Trent responded with a single of their own in the third, before scoring three in the fourth end and one in the fifth on their way to a 7-2 win.
 
Western returned to the ice later in the day to take on the Ridgebacks, who had fallen to Carleton by a 10-3 score in the first draw of the day.
 
The Mustangs started things off strong, scoring two in the first to take an early 2-0 lead. The two sides traded single points over the next three ends before UOIT tied things up at 3-3 with a steal of one in the fifth end.
 
It continued to be a back-and-forth affair over the remaining three frames, and with the game tied at 4-4 heading into the final end the Mustangs scored one in the eighth to take a 5-4 win.
 
The Mustangs will head into tomorrow's contests as one of three teams in Pool A to split their first two matches, while Laurentian and Carleton are the only teams to remain undefeated two games in.