The four Atlantic Canada teams entered in the 2012 CIS/CCA Curling Championships at the Welland Curling Club in Welland, Ontario all lost their openers tonight.

Team UPEI, which includes Brett Gallant, Alex MacFadyen, Sam Ramsay, and Connor MacPhee, lost this evening’s opening match, 7-3 to the University of Waterloo Warriers. The Acadia Axemen, skipped by Robert Mayhew, and coached by PEI native and former World Junior champion Alan Mayhew, lost 6-3 to the Brock Badgers host team.

On the women’s side, the Saint Mary’s Huskies, skipped by Seven Mile Bay PEI’s Anita Casey ended up on the wrong side of a 13-3 routing by the Brock Badgers host team, while the Memorial Seahawks, directed by Erin Porter, were doubled 14-7 by the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks.

The winners of the event will go on to represent Canada at the 2013 Winter Universiade in Maribor, Slovenia.

Eight teams of each gender are competing at the Canadian championships, including two from Western Canada, two from Atlantic Canada, and three from Ontario, including the hosts, Brock University. Quebec held one spot each in the men’s and women’s championships, but chose not to use their entries, so the spots were filled by a team from Western Canada on the men’s side and a team from Ontario on the women’s side. The teams will compete in a round robin, and at the conclusion of the round robin, the first place team will receive a bye straight through to the final, and the second and third place teams will play for the second spot in the final.

Photo by Shelley Ebbett (L-R): Brett Gallant, Alex MacFadyen, Sam Ramsay, Connor MacPhee

The event wraps up with the finals Sunday afternoon at 3 Atlantic time. Click for draw schedule.

Results are available at www.curling.ca.