In the very first draw of the 2026 New Holland Canadian Under-20 Curling Championship in Sudbury a week ago Saturday, the Ontario #1 rink skipped by Evan MacDougall scored twice with the hammer in the seventh end, knotting their contest with Alberta #1 (Peter Hlushak) at 6-6.
A steal of two in the eighth would get the Fergus-based quartet off and running as Team MacDougall topped Pool B with a record of 7-1 and advanced to the gold medal affair thanks to a 5-4 extra end win over Raphael Tremblay from Québec.
When Ontario and Alberta met in a rematch in the second last draw of the event – the women’s final would follow suit later Saturday afternoon at the Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex – there was nowhere near as much drama as their opening encounter.
Putting up a four-spot in the second end, the Ontario foursome survived a relatively minor scare in the fifth, running away with an 8-3 victory and earning a berth to represent Canada at the World Junior Curling Championship in March of 2027 – site TBD (though rumours were circulating on the weekend that Scotland will apparently play host to the playdowns that were held in Denmark this year).
“We played them earlier in the week; we knew we had to make their skip make draws, make them throw that perfect rock,” said Dylan Stockton, the 19 year-old vice-skip of the Ontario rink where he has teamed up with MacDougall and Evan Madore for the past two years, with lead Carson Kay jumping aboard this year.
“And if he doesn’t (throw that perfect rock), then we have to capitalize,” added Stockton, attending Guelph University and in his first year with their Kinesiology program.
With their 4-0 lead in hand, Ontario traded singles with Alberta in ends three and four, setting the stage for that one cross-road that might have entirely changed the complexion of this match. As Hluska stared down at his final shot of the fifth end, there was a chance to score three – but it wasn’t going to be easy.
“We said in the end meeting after four that it would be okay to give up a soft deuce, and even three is not great, but not the end of the world,” said Stockton. “As long as we made that freeze in the middle, we knew we should be okay.”
In the end, Alberta counted two, closing the gap to 5-3 – but that momentum was cut short when Ontario countered with two of their own in six, stealing another in seven as the teams shook hands.
In a week that saw them lose only one game but requiring an extra end steal in the semis to reach their ultimate goal, the Ontario lads were more consistently steady than the remainder of the field. “One of our quotes was: every shot means everything – until it’s over,” said Stockton. “If you make a good shot, great; if you make a bad one, that’s okay.”
“Just forget about it and sweep the next six rocks perfectly.”
The women’s gold medal affair made up for the gents when it came to close finishes as the Québec rink of Jolianne Fortin, Emy Lafrance, Megan Lafrance and Mégane Fortin cut their deficit with Manitoba (Shaela Hayward) to just one (7-6), scoring a pair with hammer in seven and completing the comeback with a steal of two in the eighth, securing an 8-7 triumph.
Nova Scotia (Cassidy Blades) claimed bronze on the ladies side thanks to a 6-5 win over Alberta #2 (Sierra Androschuk) while Québec (Raphael Tremblay) finished third in men’s play thanks to a 4-3 win over Alberta #2 (Jaxon Hiebert).
