RIVERTON SET TO HOST ASHAM U18 CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Riverton Curling Club will host the season’s first Manitoba curling championship events when the Asham U18 Men’s and Women’s Championships this weekend – although today’s start has been delayed by the first winter storm of the season. Today’s planned 4:30 start has moved to Friday morning. The event will continue through the weekend to playoffs on Monday in Riverton.

Caitlyn McPherson and her Gimli team return to defend their title – but with one line-up change from last year.

One draw, at 9am Saturday, will be played in Gimli.

Thirteen different Manitoba clubs are represented in the fields of 10 young men’s teams and 12 young women’s teams. Four clubs; East St. Paul, West St. Paul, Morden, and Gimli are represented in both competitions.

Last year’s championships were won by the Nash Sugden-Morden team and the Caitlyn McPherson-Gimli team.

In the U18 Women’s competition, both of last year’s finalists return, with only one line-up change. Gimli’s Caitlyn McPherson returns with two of her teammates from a year ago (Julie Magnusson and Jorja Buhr) and newcomer Anais McCormick. They are coached by Shawn Magnusson. They finished last year’s championship with an 8W-1L record and the championship.

In 2024, the McPherson team defeated Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) in the final. Buchalter returns with the same line-up (Ainslee Card, Amy Buchalter, Eva Le Heiget, Coach Kelsey Meger and Assistant Coach Bryan Buchalter) which accumulated a 6W-2L record a year ago.

The story is different in the U18 Men’s competition. The Sugden team has aged out of U18 competition and only one member of the 2025 finalist team is returning. Hudson Strand who played lead a year ago, gaining experience with the finalist Logan Zacharias team, returns as skip of his own team.

Strand’s West St. Paul team comprises Luke Jonasson, Evan Traczuk, Cooper Eagles and Coach Craig Strand. They face strong competition including the skips of the other two playoff teams from a year ago.

Kieran Callewaert (St. Vital) lost the Page 2-2 game a year ago and finished with a 3W-3L record. His new team this year includes Cooper Steele, Brady Wiens, Parker Schwab and Coach Ryan Schwab. The winner of that 2-2 game, with a 4W-2L record was Heather’s Liam Burton whose team returns intact. He is supported by Tiernan Bertrand-Meadows, Myles Lagadi, Callum Smith and Coach Shelley Bertrand-Meadows.

Entries in the U18 Women’s championship come from East St. Paul and Swan River, two each, with singles from Charleswood, Deer Lodge, Gimli, Gladstone, Morden, Ste. Anne, Virden, and West St. Paul.

Entries in the U18 Men’s event include three from the Heather, two from Morden, and single entries from Assiniboine Memorial, East St. Paul, Gimli, St. Vital, and West St. Paul.

Since the U18 Championship began in 2013, teams from eleven different clubs have won the championship. Only St. Vital has won it twice, when Jordon McDonald’s teams won back-to-back in 2019 and 2020.

Teams from eight different clubs have won the U18 Women’s event. Altona leads the way with four, including the three consecutive won by Mackenzie Zacharias teams from 2014 to 2016 and the one by the Dayna Wahl team in 2023.

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MORDEN, GIMLI TEAMS WIN ASHAM U-18 TITLES

Teams from Morden and Gimli have won the CurlManitoba Asham U-18 Championships in Morden.

The two rural Manitoba teams and a pair from the Winnipeg capital region will represent Manitoba at the national U-18 championship when it takes place in Saskatoon in late February.

Each of the CurlManitoba’s Asham U-18 final games Sunday, at the Morden Curling Club, featured a rural team against a Winnipeg area team – showing that, supported by CurlManitoba, local club efforts to grow youth curling across the province are working.

The winners of the two games, the Nash Sugden (Morden) and Caitlyn McPherson (Gimli) teams, are the Manitoba champions for 2024-25. However, thanks to the performance of Manitoba’s champions at last year’s nationals, the finalist teams also earned a national entry.

In the Asham U-18 Men’s, Morden’s Nash Sugden team (Tyler Fehr, Tanner Treichel, Ryan Thiessen, Coach Gord Titchkosky) posted a 5-4 win over Heather’s Logan Zacharias team (Rylan Graham, Carter Malmquist, Hudson Strand, Coach Sheldon Zacharias).

Morden’s Sugden team (l-r) Coach Gord Titchkosky, Ryan Thiessen, Tanner Treichel, Tyler Fehr, Nash Sugden – with Asham Curling’s Terry Gibb
Heather’s Zacharias team (l-r) Coach Sheldon Zacharias, Rylan Graham, Hudson Strand, Carter Malmquist, Logan Zacharias – with Asham Curling’s Terry Gibb

Tied 3-3 after 6 ends, Sugden had a shot at a game winning four on the seventh. He rubbed a guard to give up a steal to trail by one coming home – but didn’t have to throw his final stone as Zacharias slid deep in the 12 foot circle with his final stone, facing three.

Sugden and Zacharias both topped their respective pools in the ten-team championship with perfect 4W-0L records. Sugden beat Zacharias to advance to the final while Zacharias won the semifinal 6-3 over Liam Burton-Heather (Tiernan Bertrand-Meadows, Myles Lagadi, Callum Smith, Coach Shelley Bertrand-Meadows). The Burton team reached the semifinal with a first round playoff 5-4 win over St. Vital’s Kieran Callewaert entry (skipped by Luc Cormier, Evan Traczuk, Quinn Lagace, Coach Blaine Malo).

In the Asham U-18 Women’s Gimli’s McPherson team (Julie Magnusson, Robyn Buchel, Jorja Buhr, Coach Shawn Magnusson) defeated West St. Paul’s Karys Buchalter (Ainslee Card, Amy Buchalter, Eva Le Heiget, Coach Kelsey Meger) 9-5 to win the championship.

Gimli’s McPherson team (l-r) Coach Shawn Magnusson, Jorja Buhr, Robyn Buchel, Julie Magnusson, Caitlyn McPherson – with Asham Curling’s Terry Gibb
West St. Paul’s Buchalter team (l-r) Coach Kelsey Meger, Eva Le Heiget, Amy Buchalter, Ainslee Card, Karys Buchalter – with Asham Curling’s Terry Gibb

Tied 2-2 after four ends, McPherson gave up a three to Buchalter on the fifth end. The Gimli team bounced back to score a three of their own on the sixth and steal two on the seventh to lead by two coming home. They controlled the last end, got a stone buried early and scored two more for the 9-5 final score.

Buchalter and McPherson both finished the round robin with 6W-1L records with Buchalter being awarded the first place bye to the final thanks to a round robin win over McPherson.

McPherson needed an extra end to win the semifinal over Carman’s Kiera Krahn (Bethany Allan, Hannah Smith, Ella Robins, Coach Cal Edie). Krahn finished third in the eight team round robin with a 5W-2L record.

The 2025 Provincial Coaching Award, sponsored by Asham, goes to the coach who best exemplifies attributes of a quality coach as voted on by their peers. The men’s coaching award winner was Gord Titchkosky (Team Sugden) and women’s coaching award winner was Cory Barkley (Team Brown).

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OF NOTE: Since the CurlManitoba U-18 Women’s event began in 2013, it has been dominated by rural teams. The 2013 event was won by Pembina’s Hannah Brown. That is the only win by a Winnipeg club team. Since then, the rural winners have been from:

4-Altona: Mackenzie Zacharias (2015, 2016, 2017) Dayna Wahl (2023)
2-Dauphin: Emma Jensen (2018, 2019)
1-Carman: Shaela Hayward (2024)
1-East St. Paul: Megan Walter (2020)
1-Neepawa: Zoey Terrick (2022)
1-Winkler: Brooke Friesen (2014)
** There was no event in 2021 due to Covid

The U-18 Men’s has seen a much evener balance between rural and Winnipeg winners.

2-St. Vital: Jordon McDonald (2019, 2020)
1-Altona: Rylan Campbell (2024)
1-Carberry: Braden Calvert (2013)
1-Der Lodge: Jordon McDonald (2022)
1-Elmwood: Brett Walter (2018)
1-Fort Rouge: Brett Walter (2016)
1- Heather: Hayden Forrester (2015)
1-Morris: Brett Walter (2017)
1-Starbuck: Brandon Radford (2014)
1-Virden: Jace Freeman (2023)
** There was no event in 2021 due to Covid

TEAM WAHL ADVANCES TO ASHAM U-18 WOMEN`S CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

UPDATE: Friday 10:30PM) Altona’s Dayna Wahl team, already winners of Manitoba’s Canada Games berth, have advanced to the final of the Asham U-18 Championship being played in their hometown club.  By reaching the final, they have also won the first of two Manitoba  invitations to the U-18 nationals in Timmons, ON. In February.

Team Wahl defeated previously unbeaten Grace Beaudry (St. Vital) in the 1 vs 1 playoff game, scoring three on the seventh end and winning with a point on an extra end.

In the 2vs 2 playoff game, Shaela Hayward’s Carman team defeated Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) to advance to the Saturday morning semifinal against Beaudry.

The winner of the semi-final, by advancing to the final game, will win the second of two Manitoba entry in the national championship.

If you’re inclined to ask – so why play the final game? – the answer is quite simple. The Manitoba Championship is on the line. The champions go to Timmins as Team Manitoba while the loser will be identified as a Wild Card entry from Manitoba. For Team Wahl, there is also the quest to follow in the footsteps of another local team, the Mackenzie Zacharias team which won this same championship as a stepping stone in the ascent to the pinnacle of curling when they won the World Juniors a few short years later.

(Friday 4:30PM) PLAYOFFS SET IN ASHAM U-18 WOMEN`S CHAMPIONSHIP …….One unbeaten team and three with 3W-1L records will advance to the playoff round of the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Women`s Championship in Altona.

One team with a 3W-1L record misses the playoffs based on the event`s accumulated pre-game draw-to-the-button scores, the now standard tie-breaker formula.

With a 4W-0L record, Grace Beaudry (St. Vital) has the only unbeaten team. In their final round robin game, the St. Vital team needed an extra end to beat Julia Van Ryssel (Springfield) who had scored three coming home to tie.

Beaudry is followed in second place by Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) with a 3W-1L record. Van Ryssel finshes with a 2W-2L record in third place in the group.

The other pool ended in a three way tie for first. The three teams with 3W-1L records were Dauphin`s Team Benson, (skipped by Cloe Halushak) who had a last round bye, Shaela Haywrd (Carman) and Dayna Wahl (Altona).

A last round win by Hayward over Wahl created the logjam. Wahl earns first place in the pool  with Hayward second and Benson third based on the tie-breaker process. 

In their final games of the event. Bethany Allan (Granite), with a win over Liv Leadbeater (Swan River), and Rylie Buchalter (Heather), with a win over Meghan Lagadi (Pembina) earned their first victories.

The four team playoff in a Page format, has Beaudry against Wahl in the 1 vs 1 game. The winner advances to the final and earns the first invitation to the nationals in Timmins, ON. In the Page 2 vs 2 game, Hayward will play Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) who had the last game bye and also finished at 3W-1L.

The first playoff round goes at 7:30pm Friday.

FREEMAN FINISHES FIRST; NORRIS-PETERSON SEMIFINAL IN U-18 MEN`S

Jace Freeman (Virden) and his team won a pair of games Friday to earn the first place bye to the final in the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Men`s Championship in Altona.

The wins over Nash Sugden (Morden) and Zach Norris (Morris) gave the Freeman team, which has already earned the right to represent Manitoba in the Canada Winter Games, a final record of 5W-1L. Along with the bye to the final, they also earned the first of two available invitations to attend the nationals in Timmins, ON in early February.

Norris had earlier won over Nathan Poklar (East St. Paul) so their final 4W-2L record earned them a spot in the Saturday morning semifinal against Ronan Peterson (Heather).

Norris finishes with a 4W-2L record, tied with Ronan Peterson (Heather) who had a last round bye. Peterson and Norris will meet in the semi-final Saturday morning.

Peterson won over Luke Robins (West St. Paul) on the morning draw and had the afternoon bye to finish with a 4W-2L record as well.

Colton Olafson (Portage) had a morning bye and chance to move into the 4W-2L tie but lost 8-4 to Luke Robins (West St. Paul) and finished 3W-3L, out of the playoffs.

Nash Sugden (Morden) also had a playoff chance when the day began but had to win two games on the final day. The Morden team earned a split with the loss to Freeman and a win over Nathan Poklar (East St. Paul).

The semi-final is at 9AM and the final at 1PM Saturday.

SIX WOMEN’S TEAMS STILL IN THE U-18 CHASE WITH ONE GAME TO PLAY

The stage is set for a dramatic final round of play in the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Women’s Championship in Altona.

With a win and a bye today, Grace Beaudry (St. Vital) and Dayna Wahl (Altona) retained first place in the two pools with perfect 3W-0L records.

Two teams have completed their round robins with a pair of wins today. Dauphin’s Team Benson (skipped by Cloe Haluschak) and Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) have second place in their pools with 3W-1L records.

In third place in the two pools are Shaela Hayward (Carman) and Julia Van Ryssel (Springfield). Both won their single game today to hold down third place with 2W-1L records.

The Friday drama arises from the first vs third matchup in both pools Friday afternoon. Beaudry plays Karys Buchalter while Wahl plays Team Hayward.

No matter the result, Wahl and Beaudry have locked up a share of first place in their pools. Wins, and a 4W-0L record mean the teams advance to the Page Playoff 1-1 game. Losses mean a 3W-1L record and wins by Hayward &/or Buchalter mean they will also be at 3W-1L records. The tiebreaker formulas would then come into play to determine the top two teams in the pools.

Losses by Hayward &/or Buchalter mean they finish at 2W-2L and out of the playoffs.

LATE DRAW: A stolen extra end 7-6 win by Dauphin’s Team Benson (skipped by Cloe Haluschak) over Rylie Buchalter and a 6-5 win by Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) over Bethany Allen (Granite) gave the two winners 3W-1L records at the U18 championship in Altona.

NOON DRAW: Wins by Daya Wahl (Altona) and Grace Beaudry (St. Vital) on the noon draw at the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Championship have improved their group leading records to 3W-0L.  Dauphin’s Benson team (skipped by Cloe Haluschak) kept pace behind Walh while Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) is also at 2W-1L, as the two also won their noon draw games.

FOUR U-18 MEN’S TEAMS WITH THREE WINS WITH A DAY TO GO IN ALTONA

Jace Freeman (Virden) and Zach Norris (Morris) lead the way in the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Championship underway in Altona. The two teams both had byes on Thursday. They’ll start the day Friday sharing first place with 3W-1L records.

Right behind are Colton Olafson (Portage) and Ronan Peterson (Heather with 3W-2L records and only one game left to play.

Team Olafson had the best day Thursday, winning a pair of games to force themselves in to the playoff picture. A morning 7-6 win over Freeman was critical to the playoff hopes of all of the three win teams.

The Norris team won their one game Thursday, 6-5 over Nash Sugden (Morden) while Team Peterson split, beating beating Nathon Poklar (East St. Paul) but losing to Freeman.

Sugden bounced back on the late afternoon draw, scoring two on the 7th end and stealing one coming home to beat Luke Robins (West St. Paul). Sugden stays in the playoff chase with a 2W-2L record and two games to play tomorrow. Robins, at 1W-3L, will need a pair of wins and a lot of help from other teams to make the playoff round.

Sugden`s games Friday are against Freeman and the still winless Poklar team. Norris plays Poklar in the morning and Freeman in the afternoon.

Olafson and Peterson both have their bye game Friday and the last game for each is against 1W-3L Robins.

After playing Sugden in the morning, the final round robin draw tomorrow has Freeman playing Norris. It could be a first place game with a bye to the final and an invitation to the nationals on the line.

FREEMAN, NORRIS, PETERSON ALL WITH TWO WINS AT U-18 MEN’S

Jace Freeman (Virden), Zach Norris (Morris) and Ronan Peterson (Heather) have all completed the second day of play in the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Men’s Championship with a pair of victories.

Ronan Peterson

Freeman, who had a third round bye, leads the way with a perfect 2W-0L record. Norris and Peterson are both at 2W-1L after a third round game between the two, won by Peterson.

It was a critical win for Team Peterson, highly ranked coming into the event. They had lost their opener and needed to avoid a second loss this early in the event.

 Peterson’s early Wednesday win over Colton Olafson (Portage) set up an evening match with unbeaten Zach Norris (Morris). Norris opened with a deuce but gave up 6 points over the next four ends to trail 6-2 in a 9-5 win for Peterson.

Key to the championship aspirations of both Peterson and Norris is the fact that both have yet to play Freeman.

The U-18 Men’s playoff will see the first place team advance to the final with second and third meeting in the semifinal. The two finalists will each win an invitation to compete in the nationals.

WAHL, BEAUDRY TEAMS LEAD WITH TWO WINS EACH ON DAY OF U-18 WOMEN’S

After two games on the first day of play in the Asham CurlManitoba U-18 Women’s Championship in Altona, the top two seeds have taken their expected place atop the two five-team pools.

Grace Beaudry (St. Vital) and Dayna Wahl (Altona) were the only teams to win their first two games.

Grace Beaudry delivers with sweepers Lauren Evason and Tessa Terrick

Beaudry defeated the teams skipped by Liv Leadbeater (Swan River) and Karys Buchalter (West St. Paul) while Wahl’s wins came over Meghan Lagadi (Pembina) and Dauphin’s Team Benson (skipped by Cloe Haluschak.

Two teams in each pool had first day splits and it should be noted two teams in each pool had first day byes but all four lost their opening games.

In their only game Thursday, Team Beaudry will play one of the 0W-1L teams, Bethany Allan’s Granite team. Team Beaudry also has a bye Thursday, playing their only game against Rylie Buchalter and her Heather team.

While the first day’s results are not a guarantee of final standings they are a strong indicator of the challenge faced by all of the teams in subsequent games as they strive to earn one of the two playoff spots available in each pool.

There is a huge advantage to finishing first in each pool as the Women’s event will play a Page Playoff with the two first place teams meeting  in the first round of playoffs. The winner goes to the final knowing they have already won one of two national invitations available. The loser has a second chance opportunity when they drop to the semifinal.

ALTONA HOST CURLMANITOBA U-18 CHAMPIONSHIPS BEGINNING TONIGHT

CurlManitoba’s U-18 Championships begin tonight in Altona – with 7 young men’s teams and 10 young women’s teams participating. The men play a 7 team, 6 game round robin while the women are split in two pools of five for a four game round robin.

It will be a first major test for the two teams which won the Canada Games Trials at Heather in November. Dayna Wahl’s Altona team and Jace Freeman’s Virden team will be out to prove it was no fluke that they earned the Canada Games berth and that they should be one of the two Manitoba teams at the Canadian U-18’s in early February in Timmins, ON as well.

In the Men’s U-18 Championship, Freeman and Elias Huminicki were on last year’s winning McDonald team and their lead, Jack Steski, was on the finalist team a year ago. The combined credentials identify them as the favorite. Rylan Graham, their fourth player, also played in this event a year ago. 

At Heather after winning the Canada Games Trials (front Altona’s Dayna Wahl, Piper Stoesz, Anna Marie Ginters, Gillian Hildebrand, Coach Keith Stoesz AND back Rylan Graham, Jack Steski, Elias Huminicki, Jace Freeman, Coach Graham Freeman)

Huminicki is already the leader in games played at the Manitoba U-18 Men’s Championship – having played 26 games in four previous appearances. He is poised to move ahead of his former skip, Jordon McDonald, into first place on the list of most games won. With 17 previous wins he is tied for second in that stats category, behind only McDonald who won 20 games out of 21 played as he skipped the 2019, 2020, and 2022 champion teams. (The event was cancelled due to covid in 2021).

Cameron Olafson, who was also on the winning McDonald team a year ago, is skipping his own Portage team this year. Two other members of the 2022 finalist Ryan Ostrowsky team are also playing this year. Luke Robins is skipping a West St. Paul team with Logan Strand at lead. They lost the Canada Games Trials semi-final. Finalist Ronan Peterson’s Heather team, the only team in the championship from inside the perimeter highway, is also competing in Altona.

In the Women’s U-18 Championship, Team Wahl (Piper Stoesz, Anna Marie Ginters, Gilian Hildebrand) topped their round robin pool in last year`s championship but lost in the semi-final to Grace Beaudry who went on to lose the final. Beaudry has recruited Cassidy Dundas and Tessa Terrick from last year`s champion team. With Lauren Evason rounding out the squad, the Wahl & Beaudry teams can be considered co-favourites this year. It is notable that Beaudry recently won a 2023 Scotties berth (with a different team).

Altona’s Mackenzie Zacharias teams won three consecutive U-18 titles in 2015-1026-2017. Tessa Terrick and Cassidy Dundas have each won 17 games in previous U-18 appearances, a number well behind the leading 38 games played by Meghan Walter in seven appearances at the event.

The Altona Curling Club hosts the championship action, beginning with an 8PM Men`s draw this evening and continuing to playoffs at 9AM and 1PM on Saturday.

MCDONALD, TERRICK WIN U-18 TITLES

Team McDonald

Jordon McDonald (Deer Lodge) and his second Elias Huminicki have won their second Manitoba curling championship of the season. Half of this year’s Manitoba Junior Men’s champion team, the pair teamed with Jace Freeman and Cam Olafson to win the U-18 Men’s championship today as well. Blaine Malo continues as the team’s coach.

Team McDonald won the Page 1-1 game early Sunday to earn a berth in the final, where they took on Ryan Ostrowsky (West St.Paul). Ostrowsky had won the afternoon semi-final 7-3 over Carter Marshall and his St Vital team.

Ryan Ostrowsky, Jack Steski, Luke Robins, Logan Strand, Coach Carlene Strand

Playing their third game of the day, the Ostrowsky team gave up a two and steal of four after McDonald blanked the first two ends. From there it was just a question of patience for the Deer Lodge foursome. They forced Ostrowsky to a single in the fifth…….

The good news for Team Ostrowsky is that Manitoba has two berths in the national U-18 event to be played in early May in Oakville, ON. so they had already earned the second berth by winning the semi-final.

Team Terrick

In the U-18 Women’s final, Page 1-1 winner Zoey Terrick and her Neepawa team (Cassidy Dundas, Tessa Terrick, Madison Sagert) stole victory from semi-final winner Grace Beaudry (St. Vital). Beaudry had reached the final with an afternoon 5-4 win over Dayna Wahl (Altona).

In the final, Team Beaudry scored singles on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ends to lead 3-1 at the mid-game break. After a blanked fifth end, Terrick was forced to take a single on the sixth and then built a steal of one on the 7th to be tied coming home 3-3.

Grace Beaudry, Arianne Courcelles, Jensen Letham, Chelsea Swaile, Coach Guy Beaudry

A long centre guard and a close centre guard by lead Madison Sagert set the stage for the stolen victory. With her last stone to come, and only one rock out of play, Beaudry had nothing but an attempted double raise to pick out the Terrick shot stone buried biting the back of the four foot. By the time the rocks stopped rolling, Terrick had stolen two for a 5-3 victory.

McDonald and Terrick will wear Manitoba colours at the national U-18 Championship. Like Ostrowky, Team Beaudry also earns Manitoba’s second U-18 National berth.

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Zoey Terrick

(5PM: Sunday, March 10) TERRICK, MCDONALD ADVANCE TO U-18 FINALS Zoey Terrick’s Neepawa team and Manitoba Junior Champion Jordon McDonald’s Deer Lodge foursome won the morning Page 1-1 Playoff games to advance to the Manitoba U-18 Championship final games. Those games are set to go at Heather at 6PM.

IN the U-18 Women’s final, Team Terrick will play the winner of the afternoon semi-final between Dayna Wahl (Altona) and Grace Beaudry (St. Vital).

Earlier today, Terrick defeated Wahl 7-2 in the Page 1-1 Playoff game while Beaudry was a 7-4 winner over Emily Ogg (AMCC) in the elimination game.

In the U-18 Men’s, Team McDonald awaits the winner of the semi-final between Carter Marshall (St. Vital) and Ryan Ostrowsky (West St. Paul). In the first playoff round, Team McDonald was an 8-1 winner over Marshall and Ostrowsky eliminated Ronan Peterson (Fort Rouge) in a 7-4 game.

Ryan Ostrowsky with sweepers Luke Robins (l) and Logan Strand (r)