February 27, 2025

Golden Hawks continue to soar, women register first U SPORTS curling shutout in 14 years

The Laurier Golden Hawks men and women continued their undefeated runs on Wednesday, each improving to 5-0 following Day 3 of the 2025 U SPORTS / Curling Canada Championships.

Both teams have now set their sights squarely on the national titles, each clinching their spot in the semifinals as the only perfect teams remaining, with just one day left in the round robin.

Adding to an already successful day, the Golden Hawks women made U SPORTS history with just the second-ever shutout at the Women’s Curling Championship and third overall at the joint event when factoring in the men, blanking the McMaster Marauders 7-0

Leading off with a triple in the second followed by a quartet of consecutive stolen singles, Laurier registered the first women’s curling whitewash in a rematch of the OUA gold medal game, since the Alberta Pandas topped the Saskatchewan Huskies 8-0 in round robin play in 2008. The only other U SPORTS curling shutout occurred when the Memorial Sea-Hawks men beat the Brandon Bobcats 9-0 in pool play at the inaugural Championship in 2008.

"I don't think we were too concerned about what the score was (against McMaster),” Laurier head coach John Gabel said, downplaying the historic achievement. “But we were super pumped to play them again and give them our best shot - which we did.

"It starts with our skip setting the tone and everyone feeding off of that. Emma (Artichuk) has been good at captivating the team and keeping them going."

Re-establishing their game after some challenges Tuesday, Laurier’s momentum started a few hours earlier with a 6-1 lead at the break, scoring four in the seventh to overwhelm StFX 10-4 – for a total of 17 points in two matches.

“We’re just a lot more comfortable playing with a few extra rocks in play,” said Artichuk. “We love being able to put the pressure on the other team and see if they can react to it - we were super successful today.”

Not to be outdone, the Golden Hawks men duplicated the success of their teammates, coming up with a narrow victory of their own – also in a rematch of the conference championship – by grabbing a single in the final frame for a 6-5 win over Carleton.

Earlier in the day, Laurier also scored a pair in the third and fifth and stole another two in the eighth to beat Brock 6-3.

“We knew it was going to be a really good game tonight and we just gave it our all,” said Golden Hawks men’s skip Kibo Mulima. “It was a grind, we had to come from behind a little but we made a lot of shots late and just stuck with it, so I think that perseverance is what got us the win.”

The dual success of both programs was not lost on him either.

“It’s a really exciting time for Laurier curling,” he added. “It’s awesome that we’ve been able to come out and cheer each other on and kind of take this trip together.”

Elsewhere in women’s action, Dalhousie was also perfect on Wednesday to move into second place at 4-1. In the morning draw, the Tigers added six in the final four ends, for an 8-6 win over Thompson Rivers, and then stole six points in a 9-2 romp of Lethbridge.

It was a tough day for the host Pronghorns after registering their first national program win 24 hours earlier, with the team also giving up a steal of five to Guelph, dropping the game 7-2. Meanwhile, the WolfPack rebounded to 3-2 to move into a tie for third with Regina, after nailing back-to-back doubles in the first two ends to down the Gryphons 6-3.

The Cougars also split their contests on the day, tallying a pair in the fourth and singles in the fifth and sixth, to defeat McMaster 6-4, before allowing three in the third, a steal in the fifth and a pair in the seventh in a 6-2 decision for StFX.

With just one win and two games to play, the X-Women, Pronghorns and Gryphons will each need to run the table and get some help for a chance to advance.

On the men’s side, the three remaining playoff spots are all up for grabs with little separation – featuring four rinks level at 3-2, and the others not far behind.

In the afternoon draw, Carleton jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two and left no doubt, cementing their match against Lethbridge with three in the fifth to win 8-2. The Pronghorns were also outmatched by Brock, who scored four in the first and sixth, to cruise to a 12-1 final.

Meanwhile, reigning champion and FISU Winter Games representative Regina came into Wednesday still searching for a win and were finally rewarded. After nearly being pushed to the brink of elimination by conceding a steal of two to Memorial in the sixth to fall 6-3, the Cougars got into the win column with five points in the final two ends, defeating UNB 7-3.

The REDS and Sea-Hawks were also involved in close encounters with Calgary. Each tied 4-4 late in evenly-matched contests, UNB broke through with a pair in the seventh for the 6-4 triumph, while Memorial added four in the penultimate frame to take the game 8-4.

The final day of round robin play at the U SPORTS / Curling Canada Championships is slated for Thursday, with action beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. MT, ahead of Friday’s medal round.

Schedule and Results

TEAM STANDINGS

Men

Laurier 5-0

UNB 3-2

Memorial 3-2

Calgary 3-2

Carleton 3-2

Brock 2-3

Regina 1-4

Lethbridge 0-5

Women