Vankleek Hill’s Natasha Fortin was part of the Dalhousie University Women curling squad that finished second at the U SPORTS Canadian Curling Championships held at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, from March 15 to 19.
The Dalhousie women’s team lost 5-4 in the Gold Medal final to the University of Alberta Pandas, who stole a point in the 10th end to seal the victory. Dalhousie’s Men’s team also did well in the Canadian Championships, falling 9-7 to the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks in the Men’s Gold Medal final.
At the tournament, Fortin was reunited with fellow Vankleek Hill native Emilie Lovitt, who was playing for Toronto Metropolitan University at the competition. Fortin and Lovitt played together on the Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute curling team.
In the women’s gold medal game, after a pair of steals, Dalhousie held a 2-0 lead heading into the fourth end despite not yet having hammer. Alberta scored a point in the ninth to tie the game 4-4, meaning Dalhousie just needed a single while carrying the hammer into the tenth.
With the final stone in her hands, Dalhousie skip Marin Callaghan needed to pick the Alberta stone off the button to earn a win. She made a wonderful shot and picked the stone clean but elation turned to heartbreak when the picked stone jammed on a stone in the back 12-foot and instead, it was Alberta jumping for joy with the steal and their second consecutive U SPORTS banner, winning 5-4.
