Riding high from a bronze medal finish at the Canadian University Sport championships in 2024, the Dalhousie University women’s curling team showed up ready to rock this year at the Atlantic University Sport championships (AUS), comfortably defeating St. Francis Xavier University (StFX) 7-2 in the final to claim gold.
At the Halifax based curling club, Canadian Junior Champion Ally MacNutt skipped for the second year in a row and faced a lineup change going into the 2024-2025 season. A new addition at mate, two-time U18 provincial champion Rebecca Regan had her AUS debut, while the front end remained the same. At second was reigning 2024 Canadian junior champion Grace McCusker, and at lead 2022 Canadian junior champion, Cate Fitzgerald. Mary Mattatall remains the coach for her second season, with a new face in the alternate position — 2019 Canada Winter Games bronze medalist, Cally Moore.
2025 AUS Championship
The Tigers started off strong in their first game with a 7-1 win over Mount Allison University, before an unfortunate 9-2 loss to St. Francis Xavier (StFX) in their second round robin game. They found their footing again and came out on top in their last two games, with a 10-4 win over Saint Mary’s University and a 6-5 victory over the University of New Brunswick (UNB).
Their 3-1 record in the round robin play was enough to put them in second place going into playoffs. The team was set to face UNB in the semi-final, who they narrowly defeated in the last round robin game.
A strong semifinal game had them coming out on top, sending them to the final where they faced team StFX, who beat the Dal squad in the round robin. However Regan said the team was confident heading into the match.
“We knew when we had played them in the round robin, we hadn’t gone out and played our best,” Regan said. “We knew that going into the final, we had a few more games under our belts, we were playing well and just had to go on the ice and play like we had been in our last few games.”
Ready to win, the Tigers started off the final with a blank in the first and took a quick lead of three in the second. They were not able to force StFX to one in the fourth, giving up a two, meaning they were heading into the sixth up by two. They took over control of the game by stealing one in the next three consecutive ends, sending them into the eighth up five, ultimately forcing the other team to handshakes.
Now what?
Now with the U SPORTS championship ahead of them, MacNutt said it will be exciting to prepare for the national contest.
“We’re practicing a lot and bonding more as a team,” MacNutt said. “Each player is so talented individually so it was really amazing at AUS to learn how to play together and have some fun with it, and it felt so great to pull out the win.”
Regan plays skip for her own club team where they have won the past two Nova Scotia U18 provincial championships and represented Nova Scotia twice at the Canadian U18 championships.
“Playing at any national championship can be nerve-racking,” Regan said. “I think having experience playing in pressure games will help in calming nerves and staying focused in big games. We all bring different experiences and ideas to the team that all contribute to our success together.”
MacNutt is excited to be heading to her third U SPORTS championship — second one as skip — and said the team has big goals which she hopes to check off in February.
“The atmosphere is completely different because you’re in an arena with a crowd, playing against teams you never see and the pressure is a little higher,” MacNutt said.
The Tigers have been working hard with their school team and their own club teams and will continue to work on their game leading up to their departure alongside StFX. Eight of the best Canadian teams will compete at the 2025 Canadian U SPORTS championships which will take place Feb. 24 to 28 at the Lethbridge Curling Club in Lethbridge, Alta.
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