Rustlers Curling | CCAA Championship Recap - March 11-14, 2020

The Rustlers men's curling team competed at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) Curling National Championships this past weekend in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba from March 11-14. The men earned their berth to the championships two weeks ago at the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Championships in which they won a tiebreaker over the Grant MacEwan University Griffins.

On the first day of competition the Rustlers took on the Humber Hawks from the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA). The Rustlers would lose a close one to the Hawks, 7-8.

The Rustlers would start with the hammer and score 2 in the first end. The Hawks would respond with 4 of their own in the 2^nd end. In the 3^rd end the Rustlers would only score 1, giving the hammer up to the Hawks while being down 3-4. However, in the 4^th end the Rustlers would steal 1 to tie the game up at 4 heading into the 5^th end.

The Rustlers would steal another one in the 5^th and the 6^th end would remain scoreless. In the 7^th end the Hawks would score 2 to put them up 6-5 over the Rustlers. In the 8^th end the Hawks would steal one from the Rustlers furthering their lead to 7-5.

The Rustlers would respond with 2 in the 9^th to tie the game at 7 heading into the 10^th end. With the hammer in the 10^th the Rustlers would need to steal one to be victorious, but this was no easy feat, and the Hawks would score one in the 10^th to take the game 8-7 over the Rustlers.

On Thursday, the Rustlers took on the Sault Cougars from the OCAA in Draw 4. The Rustlers would fall to the Cougars 6-8. The Rustlers would have a slow start, going down to the Cougars 0-3 after 2 ends. The Rustlers would score one in both the 3^rd and the 4^th, however, in the 5^th the Cougars managed to score 3 with the score being 6-2 heading into the 6^th end.

The Rustlers managed to score 1 in the 6^th and 2 in the 7^th to tighten the Cougars lead to only 1. The Cougars would get one in 8^th and the Rustlers would get one in the 9^th and again the Cougars would get one in the 10^th to put them ahead of the Rustlers 8-6 at the end of the game. 

The Rustlers had a quick turnaround as they also had to play the Fanshawe Falcons on Thursday evening. The Rustlers would lose a tough one to the Falcons, 13-4. The Rustlers seemed to struggle on the ice with the Falcons despite a strong start going up 2-0 at the end of the 2^nd end.

In the 3^rd and 4^th end the Falcons would score 3 each, putting them up 6-2 over the Rustles after 4. The Rustlers would respond by scoring 1 in the 5^th end but the Falcons scored 2 in the 6^th furthering their lead. In the 7^th end the Rustlers would score another 1, but in the 8^th the Falcons would score a massive 5 points and the game would end there with a score of 13-4 for the Falcons over the Rustlers.

To start day 3 the Rustlers would face the NAIT Ooks from the ACAC. The Rustlers would lose another close on to the Ooks, 8-7. The Ooks would have a strong start and go up early 6-0 over the Rustlers at the end of the 3^rd. The Rustlers would get on the scoreboard in the 4^th end, scoring 3.

The 5^th end would end scoreless, and the Rustlers would steal 1 point in the 6^th end, putting them 2 points behind the Ooks, 6-4. The Ooks would score 1 point in the 7^th end and the Rustlers would respond with scoring 2 points in the 8^th end and 1 point in the 9^th end to tie the game at 7. In the 10^th end the Ooks would have the hammer and score 1 point to win the game over the Rustlers 8-7.

To end day 3 of competition, the win-less Rustlers would take on the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) Trojans, also from the ACAC. The Rustlers would earn their first win over the Trojans in extra ends, 9-8.

The Rustlers would take their turn having a strong start and going up over the Trojans 4-0 after 4 ends. The Trojans would score 2 in the 5^th to put themselves on the board. The Rustlers would score 1 in the 6^th, however, the Trojans would score 4 in the 7^th to tie the Rustlers at 6.

The Trojans would steal another point in the 8^th end, giving them their first lead of the game. The Rustlers managed to score 2 points in the 9^th end, putting them up 1 over the Trojans, 8-7. The Trojans would get their single point in the 10^th end to force and extra end. In the extra end, the Rustlers remained calm under pressure and with the hammer, scored a single point to take the win over the Trojans 9-8.

In the early morning draw on the 4^th day of competition, the Rustlers would take on the Confederation Thunderhawks from the OCAA. The Rustlers would get their first victory of the tournament over the Thunderhawks, 11-7.

The Thunderhawks would start the game by scoring 1 in the 1^st, and the Rustlers would respond with 2 in the 2^nd. The Thunderhawks would score 3 in the 3^rd and another 1 in the 4^th, and 2 in the 5^th.

The Rustlers were down 7-2 heading into the 6^th. This was when the Rustlers turned the game around and held the Thunderhawks scoreless from then on, and would go onto to win the game 11-7, scoring 2 points in the 6^th, 2 points in the 7^th, 2 points in the 8^th and 3 points in the 9^th end.

With another win under their belt the Rustlers would take on the Concordia Thunder from the ACAC that afternoon. The Rustlers would have a slow start against the Thunder and remain scoreless until the 6^th end where they would score 3 to close the gap behind the Thunder, 3-5.

The Thunder would score 1 in the 7^th end to widen their lead to 3. The Rustlers would respond by scoring 2 in the 8^th, but the Thunder would respond with 2 of the own in the 9^th, putting the game just out of reach for the Rustlers, whose single point in the 10^th end would not be enough.

With this loss to the Thunder, the Rustlers finished the tournament with a record of 2-5, and would not move on to the semifinals or the medal rounds, however, Nationals is more about the experience for the young curlers than the outcome.