The RDC Queens have had their hands full with the University of Alberta Augustana Vikings this season and Sunday was no different.
In the gold medal game of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Curling Championships at the Pidhereny Centre, it came down to the last rock, as it has in all six times they’ve played this season.
The Vikings made the perfect takeout to score one and capture gold with a 5-4 victory, leaving the Queens to settle for silver.
“We’ve played them six times this year and credit to them, they’ve won all of them,” said Queens coach Eldon Raab.
“All of them have been (down) to the last rock and won by one. They performed well. I was very proud of how our girls came back. They were down, struggling but they never gave up.”
Had it not been for some excellent shot-making from Queens second-year skip Hollie Vincent and her squad, the final would never even gone down to the wire. Vincent hit a beautiful hit and roll for two with the hammer in the seventh end, facing a few Vikings stones. That shot tied the game at four and kept RDC in it heading into the eighth and final end.
“It was pretty exciting going into the last end going off the steal of two. Really big team shot, so I think we were feeling really good,” said Vincent.
“The ice tightened up on ice and we weren’t prepared for it. We didn’t quite get the guards where we needed to, but otherwise, we really pulled together for the last half of the game.”
Earning silver for the Queens were Emily Plett (Manitoba), second Erica Watts (Red Deer) and lead Jaycee Bourke (Red Deer).
Even with the second-place finish, the Queens advanced to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Curling National Championships in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba from March 11-15. That bonspiel will also be played on arena ice, a unique opportunity for curlers at the college level.
“That’s really exciting. We’re excited to get to play on arena ice and hopefully, we’ll meet the Vikings again and catch them there,” said Vincent.
After the game, Vikings skip Hannah Terry was named ACAC Female Curler of the Year. Thunder skip Evan Van Amsterdam was the Male Curler of the Year.
In the mixed division, the McEwan University Griffins earned gold, while NAIT picked up silver and UAA collected bronze. In the men’s division, SAIT won gold, NAIT won silver and the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder earned bronze.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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