Reds Ready To Represent

(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB Reds women’s curling team is headed to their first U SPORTS Championship, but they’re not having to travel very far.

The Reds will serve as the host team when the national university championship bonspiel begins Friday, at Willie O’Ree Place.

The event runs March 15-19.

While it’s the team’s first university championship, it’s far from their first taste of championship curling.

“Everyone on the team has already competed in national events, so we’re comfortable in high pressure situations,” said skip Justine Comeau. “We also get along great on the ice and make sure to keep things light.”

UNB goes into the U SPORTS Championship after their bronze medal finish at the Atlantic University Sport Championship, in St. John’s, where they started strong, with four straight wins, but stumbled down the stretch.

“Our biggest challenge, which applies to every sport, is to progressively perform better throughout the event,” said Comeau. “Ideally, we’d peak on Tuesday.”

Comeau sees pros and cons to being the ‘home team,’ but says the team is ready to play their best in front of those who support them the most.

“I'm definitely very excited to be able to play at a national event in my hometown,” she said. “I’m also determined to play my best and to represent the university well.”

“It will be great to have friends and family around supporting us. We do not want to disappoint them. It’ll also be nice to not have to yell over the crowd, since most of the cheers will happen after our shots.”

The Reds are joined in the 2019 U SPORTS Curling Championship by Alberta, Brock, Dalhousie, Laurentian, Mount Allison, Queen’s, and Regina.

Round-robin action begins Friday and runs through Monday morning, with semi-finals being contested on Monday evening.

The championship and bronze medal games will be played on Tuesday.