AKIPRESS.COM - The female athletes from the Thompson Rivers University and the University of Alberta earned the right to represent Canada at the Universiade Games in Kazakhstan.

Winter Universiade 2017 will take place in Almaty from January 28, 2017 to February 8, 2017.

Student-athletes from all over the world between the ages of 17 and 28 will flock to Almaty to take part in Winter Universiade organized by FISU. Almaty is ready for 2017 Winter Universiade.

The medal round on the women’s side of the 2016 CIS / Curling Canada University Tournament had the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack against the University of Alberta Pandas for the gold medal. For the bronze medal, it was the University of Guelph Gryphons against the Dalhousie University Tigers.

In the gold medal game, Kelsey Rocque and her Alberta Pandas were on the board first, taking a single point in the first end. Carynn Brown and her TRU WolfPack took a point in the second end, with their final rock being the only one left in the house. The third end saw the Pandas score one, taking a 2-1 lead through three. The gold medal game had its first blank end in the fourth, before the ‘Pack took a point in the fifth to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the fifth end break, Curling Canada reports.

The sixth was another single-point end, with Alberta taking a point to move into a 3-2 lead. The seventh end was the second left blank, a note indicative of the cautious and precise style of play directed by both Kelsey Rocque and Corynn Brown in the game. Through the first seven ends of the contest for the national title, there was rarely a moment with more than two rocks in the house.

The game was tied up once again in the eighth end, then Corynn Brown’s WolfPack took their first lead of the game after stealing one in the ninth, on an early rock that they played almost the entire end to protect.

With a rock each left to play in the tenth end, TRU had three in the four foot and led by one. Skip Corynn Brown stuck her final rock in the top foot, putting four rocks in the house for the ‘Pack before Alberta’s final throw. Pandas skip Kelsey Rocque squeezed the hammer between two WolfPack rocks at the top of the four foot, and snuck it through to score one, tying the game at 4-4 and forcing an extra end.

On her final rock of the game, Brown had to play an in-turn to the four foot to push the Alberta rock back a few inches and win the game. She made the shot, and moved the Pandas’ rock in to the back of the button, but at too big of an angle, rolling off allowing Alberta to steal the final point of the game by a matter of inches.

With the win, skip Kelsey Rocque adds the title of National University Champion to her two World Junior Championships. She and the University of Alberta Pandas earn the title of 2016 CIS / Curling Canada University Champions, and take the gold medal as the best university women’s curling program in the country. They also earn the right to represent Canada at the Universiade Games in Kazakhstan.