Defending champs, plus four others lock up playoff spot at OUA championship

OSHAWA, Ont. – The Laurier Golden Hawks will be playing on the final day of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Curling Championship hosted by UOIT.

After edging McMaster 6-5 on Saturday afternoon, the Golden Hawks men's team guaranteed themselves a spot in Monday's quarter-finals with an 8-1 win over the Windsor Lancers in the final draw of day three play. They are still undefeated in the championship thus far with a 6-0 record.
 
Also, guaranteed a spot on the men's side on Monday are the Toronto Varsity Blues who lead Pool B with a 5-0 record and the Western Mustangs who are 5-1 after defeating McMaster 4-0.
 
In Pool A there are only four teams vying for three spots, while six teams are in the mix for three in Pool B.
 
The host UOIT Ridgebacks (2-3) kept their hopes alive with a last-shot 7-6 victory over the Guelph Gryphons in the afternoon. Waterloo lost to both Toronto and Brock, who lead the pool, while Ryerson defeated UOIT and Laurentian to put four teams in a tie at 2-3 behind Toronto (5-0), Brock (4-1) and Carleton (3-2).
 
Sunday morning UOIT faces Carleton, Guelph takes on Toronto, Ryerson battles Brock and Waterloo goes head-to-head with Laurentian as all four spots in Pool B could be determined by Draw 16 action.
 
In women's play Carleton and Laurier are guaranteed to be playing in Sunday night's quarter-finals, while Trent (4-2), Laurentian (4-2) and Ryerson (3-3) will fight for the final two spots in Pool A.
 
Saturday night's draw for Pool B was the true game-changer as Brock went into it as the lone team in the pool with a perfect record. Brock (6-0) winning 6-5 over Waterloo (3-3) not only guaranteed their spot in a quarter-final, but with Queen's (5-1) victory over Toronto (4-2) it means that the Gaels will also be playing Sunday night.
 
Waterloo, Toronto and Guelph (4-2) will look for the final two playoff spots in Pool B. Toronto and Guelph meet at 11 a.m. in their final game of the round-robin, while Waterloo takes on the Windsor Lancers at 2:30 p.m.
 
The five-day tournament wraps up on Monday with the semifinals at 1 p.m. and finals at 5 p.m.