Trojans miss out on playoff round at Nationals

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MAN., (March 14, 2020) - The SAIT Trojans finished on a high note, but are still left with a bitter taste in their mouth.

The Trojans men's team capped off their round robin at the Canadian Curling Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championships Saturday afternoon with an 11-5 win over the Confederation College Thunderhawks. However, their 3-4 record will not be good enough to advance them into the event's playoff round on Sunday.

"It's really rough, because we all came in here expecting to make playoffs," said Trojans skip Andrew Manson (1st year, St. Albert, Alta., Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Technology). "We had some close, tough losses, but I know we fought hard together in every game. . . Really proud of how we fought this week."

The event did not start well for the Trojans, as they started 0-2 after losses to Ontario's Fanshawe College (8-4) and fellow Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) school NAIT (7-6).

Manson admitted that he and teammates third Riley Helston (1st year, Calgary, Business Administration), second Ben Helston (1st year, Calgary, Business Administration) and lead Miki Becker (1st year, Calgary, Architectural Technologies) had trouble adjusting to the conditions.

"We struggled a little bit with the ice, as it's a little different than what we're used to in Alberta," Manson continued. "There was a lot more curl than what we usually play on. . . Little tiny tweaks would change the outcome of shots so you really needed to fine tune to hit where you wanted."

The loss to NAIT was especially tough, as SAIT allowed the Ooks to score three in the 10th end to tie it, then to steal one in the 11th end to win. 

Plus, it was a bit of revenge for NAIT after the Trojans beat them in the ACAC Championship final two weeks ago.

"It was more a matter of one small miss by us and four straight beauties by them," said Trojans third Riley Helston (1st year, Calgary, Business Administration) said about the tenth end. "It was a heartbreaker because we knew it was go time then, and that if we lost, the tournament might not be in our control anymore. That one hurt."

SAIT rebounded with a pair of wins over Ontario's Humber College (10-5) and Sault College (11-6) to even their record at 2-2 and get back on track.

The Trojans looked to win their third straight match of the week as they took on the winless Lakeland College Rustlers (ACAC). But, after forcing them to one in the opening end, the Rustlers went on to steal three in the second and one more in the third to take a commanding 5-0 lead early.

SAIT battled back, however, and tied the match at 6-6 after scoring four in the seventh end. The Trojans took their first lead in the match when they stole one in the eighth end, but the Rustlers scored two in the ninth to take it back.

The teams traded points in the 10th and 11th ends, with Lakeland emerging victorious 9-8.

In their final day of competition, SAIT fell 13-9 to Concordia University of Edmonton in the morning before beating Northern Ontario's Confederation College.

"We knew the loss to Concordia officially eliminated us from playoff contention, so we wanted to go out there in our final game and enjoy it," Manson stated. "We had a lot of fun, and we all played pretty well."

While it was not the result they wanted, Manson said his team gained valuable experience that they hope to learn from while they look to next season.

"The experience was extremely crucial for us to get leading into next year," he finished. "For a few of us, this was our first time at a national event like this, and it's completely different than playing at our clubs. . . The experience with crowds, and the tight games we played will only help us going forward. We now know what to expect next year, we know what we'll have to practice for."