It was a banner day for Chloe Johnston’s University of Regina Cougars at the U SPORTS/CCAA Canadian Curling Championships, as the Regina skip guided her rink to a pair of convincing victories to climb back into the mix.
Johnston opened Thursday, doubling up Queen’s 8-4, then followed that with a decisive 10-1 win over Calgary, improving her round-robin mark to 2–1.
Against Queen’s skip Ava Acres, Johnston set the tone early. She took one in the first end and promptly stole another in the second. Queen’s cracked the scoreboard with a single in the third, but the Cougars countered immediately, Johnston using the hammer to post a deuce in the fourth for a 4-1 lead.
Queen’s managed singles in the fifth and seventh ends, sandwiched around a Regina three-spot in the sixth that broke the game wide open. Johnston added one more in the eighth for the 8-4 victory.
The evening draw was even more one-sided.
Facing Calgary’s Ava Koe, the Dinos opened with a single in the first end. After a blank in the second, Johnston hit the board in the third to tie things 1-1.
And then the roof fell in on Calgary.
The Cougars applied relentless pressure in the fourth end, swiping five to surge ahead 6-1. They weren’t done. Regina stole another four in the fifth, prompting handshakes and sealing a 10-1 win.
Johnston ends the day 2–1, right back in the hunt.
On the men’s side, Carter Williamson and his Regina foursome endured another tough day, dropping a 6-5 heartbreaker to Dalhousie followed by an 8-2 loss to Laurier. The Cougars sit at 0–3 through three games.
Against Dalhousie skip Owen McPherson, Williamson controlled the early ends—blanking the first, scoring two with hammer in the second, and stealing another in the third for a 3-0 cushion.
Dalhousie answered with one in the fourth before Williamson replied with a single in the fifth to restore a three-point lead. But the Tigers’ three-ender in the sixth flipped momentum, tying the game 4-4. Regina managed one in the seventh, but Dalhousie capitalized late, scoring two in the eighth for the 6-5 comeback win.
The nightcap against Kibo Mulima’s Laurier rink saw Regina start well, answering Laurier’s opening-end single with one of their own, then stealing in the third to go ahead 2-1.
But the Golden Hawks took control from there. Mulima scored two with hammer in the fourth, stole two in the fifth, and tacked on three more in the sixth as Regina pushed for offence, closing out an 8-2 decision.
Williamson’s crew will look to regroup as they chase their first win of the championship.
Both Cougars teams return to action this afternoon as round-robin play continues.
