Reds Earn Silver At U SPORTS Championship

UNB falls 10-2 to Alberta in national final

UNB's Meghan Boland and Keira McLaughlin sweep a shot during Sunday's 10-2 loss to Alberta in the gold medal game at the U SPORTS Championship, in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. (Photo: Evan Richtsfeld/UNB Athletics)
UNB's Meghan Boland and Keira McLaughlin sweep a shot during Sunday's 10-2 loss to Alberta in the gold medal game at the U SPORTS Championship, in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. (Photo: Evan Richtsfeld/UNB Athletics)
March 15, 2020

(PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MB) The UNB Reds are returning from the 2020 U SPORTS Women's Curling Championship with the silver medal.

The Reds, skipped by Justine Comeau, fell 10-2 to the University of Alberta Pandas in Sunday's gold medal match.

"Our goal was to bring back a medal, and having one that's a little bit better than third, I'll take that," said Comeau, who was named 1st Team All-Canadian skip. "Giving up a five early is difficult to come back from, and the team we were playing is a great hitting team."

Alberta scored five in the second end, then kept the pressure on the Reds.

UNB was unable to recover, and conceded after scoring a single in the sixth end.

"In the end we gave up five, we weren't quite making our draws properly," said Comeau. "We missed four draws in a row, and I missed my last shot to the four-foot ring to prevent the steal."

"The other team was making great shots," said Reds' third Erica Cluff. "That made it hard for us to keep up with them. They're a great team."

Earlier Sunday, UNB defeated Queens 5-3 in the semi-finals to earn their spot in the championship game.

In a back-and-forth contest, the game was close until the end.

The Reds stole one in the ninth to go up 5-3.

Queens tried to tie the game in the tenth, but Comeau made a tough shot to knock out the Gaels' second to last rock.

"We struggled a little bit, but we were able to bring it together in the end, and make the shots when it counted," said Comeau, of her team's semi-final victory.

The silver medal is the best finish by any UNB curling team at the national championship level, men's or women's, and is the second medal by a UNB team at the national championships in three years. UNB's Jack Smeltzer rink won the bronze medal at the 2018 U SPORTS men's championship.

"I feel really good about it," said Cluff. "It's been a great week, and I'm really happy we were able to make it to the final game."

The Reds went 6-1 in round-robin play.

 

RECAP BY: Evan Richtsfeld and Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: Evan Richtsfeld/UNB Athletics