SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. - Championship Sunday in OCAA curling action didn't disappoint as 12 teams set out to claim provincial glory for their colleges at the Community First Curling Centre. The capacity crowd was treated to great games of curling with each game hotly contested by each college.
Humber College pulled off the stunning feat of winning gold medals in men's, women's and mixed divisions; becoming the first school to ever accomplish the triple gold.
In mixed play, after morning semi-final wins, the Humber Hawks faced off against the Sault Cougars in gold medal action while the Fanshawe Falcons and Fleming Knights hit the ice for bronze. The gold medal game was a cat and mouse game with both teams trading singles to sit ties 2-2 at the forth end break.
After the break, however, the Hawks pulled away with steals of one in the next two ends and capped if off with a steal of three in the seventh end to claim the championship 6-2 over the Cougars. In the bronze game it took an extra end as the Falcons continued the larceny theme and stole one in that end to best the Knights 7-6.
On the women's side, Humber and Niagara punched their card to the final with wins over Fanshawe and Fleming respectively in the morning semifinals. A back and forth final saw the Hawks and Knights trading rocks for the first few ends but a pair of deuces in both the fourth and sixth ends by Humber proved the difference. Those two ends of multiple points proved to be the difference as Humber took one in the eighth to claim the title with a 6-4 victory. In the bronze game, Fanshawe's seventh end take of four points led to handshakes as they downed Fleming 8-3 to earn the medal.
Finally, men's action saw both 2016 CCAA champion Humber Hawks take on 2016 OCAA Fanshawe Falcons in the final; each besting Mohawk and Sault Colleges respectively in the semis. At the mid-way point the Hawks were clinging to a 2-1 lead but that all changed when they stole three points in the sixth end to take command. Although the Falcons bounced back with their own three in the seventh, Humber ran them out of rocks in the eighth to claim the championship.
In the bronze match, a string of single steals in multiple ends by Mohawk proved too much for the Sault as they fell 5-4 just coming shy of the rings in eight; the Mountaineers earning the medal.
Up next for the OCAA medalists are the CCAA national championships for men and women to be held next month in Camrose, Alta.
Host Sault College would like to thank all those who came out to support collegiate curling along with the Community First Curling Centre, belairdirect, Goldline, Tourism Sault Ste. Marie and the Soo Curlers Association for making the 2017 championships memorable for all.
AWARDS
Fair Play Awards
Ron Fearon Award - St. Clair College
Vern Dow Award - St. Clair College
Hap Holman Award - Fleming College
OCAA Coach of the Year
Jordan Thin - Niagara College
OCAA All-Stars
Mixed
Second Team
Lead - Robert Taylor - Sault College
Second - Jonah Paquette - Humber College
Vice - Nicole McClennan - Fleming College
Skip - Michael Morra - Humber College
First Team
Lead - Nadia Marast - Humber College
Second - Angelica Muscedere - Fanshawe College
Vice - Nick Klein - Sault College
Skip - Sandy Toole - Sault College
Women
Second Team
Lead - Emma Caldwell - Niagara College
Second - Nikkita Campbell - Fleming College
Vice - Kaitlyn Poirier - Fanshawe College
Skip - Sara Westman - Fanshawe College
First Team
Lead - Isabelle Allan - Fanshawe College
Second - Heidi Beck - Humber College
Vice - Jillian Page - Fleming College
Skip - Cassie Paccanaro - Humber College
Men
Second Team
Lead - Brandon Twinning - Fanshawe College
Second - Kyle Mills - Humber College
Vice - Sean Armstrong - Humber College
Skip - Charlie Richard - Fanshawe College
First Team
Lead - Brad Manson - Sault College
Second - Brady St. Louis - Fanshawe College
Vice - Tyler Twinning - Fanshawe College
Skip - Zack Shurtleff - Humber College
Medals
Mixed
Gold - Humber College
Silver - Sault College
Bronze - Fanshawe College
Women
Gold - Humber College
Silver - Niagara College
Bronze - Fanshawe College
Men
Gold - Humber College
Silver - Fanshawe College
Bronze - Mohawk College
Championship Results
Men
Semi-Finals
Humber Hawks 8 - Mohawk Mountaineers 2
Fanshawe Falcons 4 - Sault Cougars 2
Gold Match: Humber Hawks 6 - Fanshawe Falcons
Bronze Match: Mohawk Mountaineers 5 - Sault Cougars 4
Women
Semi-Finals
Niagara Knights 7 - Fleming Knights 5
Humber Hawks 5 - Fanshawe Falcons 4
Gold Match: Humber Hawks 6 - Niagara Knights 4
Bronze Match: Fanshawe Falcons 8- Fleming Knights 3
Mixed
Semi-Finals
Humber Hawks 10 - Fanshawe Falcons 3
Sault Cougars 10 - Fleming Knights 4
Gold Match: Humber Hawks 6 - Sault Cougars 2
Bronze Match: Fanshawe Falcons 7 - Fleming Knights 6
Source: Sault College
- OCAA -
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