LATE WIN AND TIEBREAKERS PROPEL HAWKS INTO CHANCE TO DEFEND TITLE
Photo: Courtesy of Pro Sports Photography
CAMROSE, ALBERTA: The Humber Hawks men's curling team, who struggled with inconsistent play and inability to come up with key shots at crucial points did what championship teams do, and that is fight. And fight they did.
A must-win over the Alberta champion and host Augustana Vikings, combined with losses by Lakeland and Mohawk, vaulted Humber to third in the standings after pool play and a spot in the final four on Saturday. In fact, there was five teams with identical 3-4 records, but Humber advanced by way of the application of tie-breakers. The tie breakers were based on pre-match shots to the button, of which the Hawks excelled beyond every team in the event.
After a morning loss to the Fanshawe Falcons, the chance of advancing looked slim, but with no teams moving ahead of the pack the opportunity was still there. In the Hawks/Falcons game it was eerily similar to many of the team's matchups, as it was tight all the way. Fanshawe advanced with this win, and just had to wait for a playoff opponent.
The last game of the round robin was pure Humber Hawks men's curling. Humber ran out to a quick 1-0 lead, and then got the hammer back with the game tied at 1. The turning point was a grab of 2 for the Hawks before the fifth end break. As mentioned above, pure Humber men's curling is the ability to play with a lead and peel rocks away to blank ends until the opponent is out of rocks. After allowing the Vikings a single to come to 4-3, Humber, now with hammer, just played the game out for the win.
What came next was scoreboard watching. First, Mohawk came up short in their match with first place Red Deer, then it got interesting. Needing NAIT to defeat Lakeland, the Ooks missed a chance in the tenth to score two and snare the win. A single by NAIT tied it, and it went to the eleventh with Lakeland holding hammer. A steal of one by NAIT sent the Hawk supporters into full jubilation, as the chance to defend was now in front of them.
Humber will play Fanshawe in a semi-final at 11:30 am est. Should they win, they will play for gold. A loss will have them go for bronze.
