Corryn Brown and her Thompson Rivers University WolfPack rink will be looking to build on the momentum of their final round-robin victory when they begin CIS championship playoff action Wednesday morning at the Kelowna Curling Club.
A 10-4 win over their familiar rivals from the University of Alberta earned the Kamloops-based TRU foursome a 5-2 record, a second-place finish in round-robin play, and a meeting with third-place Dalhousie University Tigers of Halifax, skipped by Kristin Clarke (5-2), in semifinal play beginning at 9 a.m. at the KCC.
Runners-up to Alberta’s Kelsey Rocque in last year’s CIS final, Brown and rinkmates Erin Pincott (third), Samantha Fisher (second) and Ashley Nordin (lead) had to come from behind to defeat Rocque in the final RR draw on Tuesday.
Trailing 4-3 after seven ends, Brown scored four in the eighth and stole three more in the ninth for the runaway victory. Earlier in the day, the WolfPack foursome fell 7-2 to Brock University Badgers of St. Catharines, Ont.
The other women’s semifinal on Wednesday will see the first-place Guelph Gryphons (5-2), skipped by Jestyn Murphy, taking on Rocque and her U of A Pandas.
The semifinal winners will meet in the championship match beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday for the CIS title and trip to Almaty, Kazakhstan for the 2017 World University Games.
In the CIS men’s championship, Thomas Scoffin and his Alberta Golden Bears rink of Karsten Sturmay, Jason Ginter and Parker Konschuh cruised to a first-place finish in round-robin play with a 7-0 record.
They’ll meet fourth-place Brock Badgers (4-3) skipped by Eric Bradey in one semifinal at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, while second-place Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (6-1) of Waterloo take on the third-place Victoria Vikes (4-3) in the other semi, also at 9 a.m. The Vikes are skipped by Corey Chester.
The winners will be on the ice at the same time as the women’s final at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, aiming for the CIS title and the opportunity to represent Canada at the World University Games.
Meanwhile, the host UBC Okanagan Heat, skipped by Justin Nillson (Colton Costa, Luke Cooke, Cam Mahler) had an opportunity to make the playoffs going into Tuesday’s action, but lost their final two matches — to Brock (8-2) and Dalhousie (8-5) to finish at 2-5.
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