(FREDERICTON, NB) The 2023 Subway Atlantic University Sport Curling Championships began Thursday at the Capital Winter Club in Fredericton, NB. The event features six institutions and four provinces, all vying for the coveted AUS banner and a spot in the U SPORTS Curling Championships in March.   

The women’s field is made up of the host UNB Reds, Memorial Sea-Hawks, Saint Mary's Huskies, Dalhousie Tigers, Mount Allison Mounties and UPEI Panthers. On the men’s side, Memorial, Saint Mary's, UNB and Dalhousie are competing.  

Draw 1  

Women  

MUN (1-0) vs MTA (0-1)  

The Seahawks were dominant in their opening match stealing three ends to jump out to an early lead before finishing off the Mounties in the seventh end with a six-point steal.  

UNB (1-0) vs SMU (0-1)  

It took an extra end, but the UNB REDS were able to score a 6-5 victory over the SMU Huskies in their opening draw. 

The team’s traded points back-and-forth in this intense match but the REDS were able to come out on top in the extra frame.  

UPEI (1-0) vs DAL (0-1)  

In one of the closer matches of the opening draw the UPEI Panthers defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 5-4 in comeback fashion. 

It was a tight match, with the Tigers holding a 4-2 lead before UPEI skip Rachel MacLean hit a tremendous draw shot to help the Panthers score three points in the final end and win the game.

Men  

SMU (1-0) vs MUN (0-1)  

The Huskies were able to ride a four-point steal in the fourth end to win their opening draw over the Sea-Hawks 8-4. The Sea-Hawks answered with a two-point end in the fifth and a steal of a point in the sixth but it wasn’t enough as the Huskies cruised to the opening match victory  

UNB (0-1) vs DAL (1-0)  

A strong four-point third end helped lift the Dalhousie Tigers over the UNB REDS 9-4. 

UNB did their best to respond taking chances to help get back in the match but were unable to overcome the large Tigers lead.  

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 All teams are back in action Friday as the championships continue with draws two, three and four of the round-robin.    

Live end scoring can be found on the Curling Canada website at www.curling.ca   

Source: Evan Richtsfeld for UNB Athletics