Warrior hockey team off to University Cup in Saskatoon

March will bring a double shot at national athletic glory to Waterloo, with the Warriors earning championship berths in both men’s hockey and curling.

In a season full of peaks and valleys, the Waterloo Warriors men’s hockey team found the right time to hit a peak.

Seeded sixth in the ultracompetitive OUA West division, the team went on a Cinderella postseason run to claim an unlikely division title and a spot at the 2013 University Cup CIS championship tournament in Saskatoon.

With a regular season record of 12-11-5, the Warriors rode a 6-1 playoff streak and defeated the top three teams in the OUA West en route to a Queen’s Cup appearance and a berth in the University Cup tournament.

Waterloo dispatched third-seed Lakehead in a round one sweep, and then pulled off a monumental upset of the top seed and defending division champion Western Mustangs, beating the 2012 CIS finalists two games to one. In the West division final, the Warriors once again reached for the brooms, beating the second-seed Windsor Lancers in two straight.

With the pieces of a long and tumultuous season falling into place at just the right time, the belief within the Warriors dressing room is that they might not be done with the ride just yet. They’ll have a chance to turn a memorable season into an historic one at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon.  The University Cup runs from March 14-17 and seeding and schedule will be available shortly at: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/index

In curling, the Waterloo men’s team will join Trent and Carleton (as the OUA has three berths to the Nationals) in Kamloops March 20 – 24 for the CIS / CCA University Curling Nationals, hosted by Thompson Rivers University. The national winners will represent Canada in Karuizawa Japan in January 2014.

At the February 18 OUA curling championship, the Warrior men’s team used a five-point fifth end to power past the Trent Excalibur by a score of 7-4 in the gold medal match at the Guelph Curling Club.  Skip Jake Walker (Minden) led his team to their second straight OUA Championship Banner in the process. The CIS men’s curling championship schedule will be available mid-march at: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/curling/index