Reds Fall In AUS Curling Opener

(ST. JOHN'S, NL) UNB's Justine Comeau rink is 2-and-0 after the first two draws at the Subway Atlantic University Sport Curling Championships, taking place at the Remax Centre/St. John's Curling Club.

Comeau's foursome scored an 8-4 win over Saint Mary's in Thursday's opening draw, and then beat St FX 8-5 in the day's second draw.

Not bad for a team that left Fredericton very early on Thursday.

"We left at 4:30 in the morning, so that was early. Being here and playing the evening draw, after a good game this afternoon, while all being extremely tired, I'm happy we were able to get through this," said Comeau.

"We get to go back and get some sleep, some rest. Hopefully, we can build on what we learned today and we won't be as tired. Hopefully, that will be to our advantage."

The Comeau rink faces the host Memorial Sea-Hawks in Friday's first draw, at 9:30am Atlantic, before taking on Mount Allison in the evening draw, at 6:30pm Atlantic.

"Our draw weight has been good so far, and that's exciting and promising, because when it's off, it's frustrating," said Comeau. "I feel really confident that shots can be made or be close to being made, so that's definitely what's helped us do well."

On the men's side, UNB suffered an 8-4 loss to Saint Mary's in their only game on day one.

"We fell flat," said Reds skip Jack Smeltzer. "We were playing a pretty complicated strategy for how well we knew the ice, which was not very well at all."

"We just missed a few chances," he said.

The Reds face Dalhousie this morning before taking on host Memorial in Friday's evening draw.

Smeltzer is confident the team can rebound.

"We know we can play better, know we can call a game better," he said. "I think we were missing misses that we don't usually miss, so I don't think it's a setback. Maybe it's stronger motivation to pull up our socks."

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS FROM: Memorial Athletics