Experienced Griffins rink hunting for sixth ACAC women's championship in program history

Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Hungry after losing in the final of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference championship a year ago, the MacEwan Griffins women's curling rink enters this weekend's championship on a mission.

They're after gold and a banner. And they'll be the favourites to get it.

Skip Ashton Simard, third Erin Wells, second Andie Kurjata and alternating leads Taitan Hagglund and Rebecca Bartz cruised through the regionals with an 11-1 record and will be aiming to keep that momentum going at the 2018-19 championship in Olds starting Friday.

"I think we had it in us last year, we just didn't make the shots we needed to," said Wells, who was the all-star third at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association nationals last March. "But this year after playing in provincials and nationals we know what it takes and really want to win it.

"Last year at nationals, we really wanted a medal, but it didn't work out in our favour. This year we want to go back and do better."

Qualifying for the CCAA national championship in Fredericton, N.B. March 15-19 will certainly be a goal as well this weekend but adding a sixth ACAC women's title in program history is paramount. MacEwan last won it in 2016, also claiming the banner in 1993, 2005, 2010 and 2014.

Three members of the team – Simard, Wells and Kurjata – return from last season when they lost 6-2 to Red Deer College in the ACAC final before finishing fourth at nationals. Bartz was a member of MacEwan's mixed rink that won the 2018 ACAC championship, while Hagglund skipped the Griffins' mixed team in 2016-17 and has returned to the program after a year away from ACAC curling.

Their chemistry was evident in the regionals, as the team displayed patience and poise in making clutch shots at the right times to emerge triumphant through some tight games.

"There's a benefit in that Andie and Erin and Ashton have curled together for a long time – Andie and Ashton even more – they've curled together for four years," said head coach Tom Kitagawa. "I think that's part of the reason they're able to come back from being down. They're confident. If we just keeping making shots, eventually the game will turn.

"They have really good camaraderie and teamwork. There's no negative anything. They all just keep going at it."

The Griffins will hit the ice on Friday against UAlberta-Augustana (12 p.m.) and NAIT (4 p.m.) before wrapping up round robin play on Saturday morning against defending champion Red Deer College (9 a.m.).

From there, the 1-2 and 3-4 page playoff matches go at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The loser of the 1-2 match and winner of the 3-4 meet in the semifinal at 6 p.m. with the victor meeting the 1-2 game winner for the ACAC Championship on Sunday (10 a.m.).

"Everybody qualifies for playoffs," said Kitagawa. "It's just a question of whether you have two lives or you get one. If you're first or second, you have two lives."

Kitagawa noted their success in Olds will also be dependent on how fast they pick up the ice conditions. They won't get a practice run in, just a few test shots before their first game on Friday, so adjusting quickly is important.

"A big factor whenever you go to a new arena is the ice conditions," he explained. "It's like going to a different golf course, how it plays. At one course, you hit a 250-yard drive and it bounces another 30 yards. You go to another course and hit (the same drive) and it stops within five yards.

"Ice is the same way."

The Griffins will certainly lean on veteran poise to adjust quickly in that regard. Wells feels the rink is coming into its own at the right time.

"I think last year when we went into provincials, we were still kind of a new team getting to know each other," she said. "But this year since the three of us have played together we have a lot more chemistry and it shows with our wins and losses compared to last season."