LETHBRIDGE, Alta. - Laurier's women's curling team secured their spot in the semifinal playoff round at the U SPORTS/Curling Canada University Championships in Lethbridge with two draws to go in pool play after another two wins on Wednesday.

Opening against the winless AUS silver-medalists from St. Francis-Xavier, the Golden Hawks jumped out to a 6-1 lead at the fourth-end break before fending off a comeback attempt by the X-Women.

With their advantage cut down to just two after six, Laurier recovered with four in the seventh, forcing St.FX to shake hands and concede defeat by a 10-4 score.

"We were a little overly defensive after the break," assessed Laurier head coach John Gabel after the game. "We had a couple of opportunities to pressure them but elected to take the conservative route. It gave St. FX some momentum. We stoked the fire a little."

"Because of that, we were extra motivated in that seventh end and executed almost flawlessly."

Their second draw of the day saw the Golden Hawks rink skipped by Emma Artichuk square off against McMaster in a rematch of this year's OUA Championship final defeat. 

It was Laurier getting the upper hand this time around though, as they shut out McMaster 7-0 in six ends. The scoring started with three in the second end and continued with singles in each of the next four. 

The win not only sent a statement to the rest of the field but clinched a spot in the final four playoff round. Holding a 5-0 record as the lone undefeated team remaining, Laurier holds the head-to-head tiebreakers with three of the other teams in the top five.

It also held significant historical significance as just the second-ever shutout in the history of the women's championship and the third overall when factoring in the men.

The last women's shutout registered was in 2011 when Alberta beat Saskatchewan 8-0 in the round robin. The only other shutout to ever occur was the Memorial men beating Brandon 9-0 in the inaugural event in 2008.  

"I don't think we were too concerned about what the score was (against McMaster), but we were super pumped to play them again and give them our best shot - which we did," Gabel said.

With his squad outscoring the opposition 17-4 on the day, he was quick to asses how "from top to bottom we've been solid". 

"It starts with our skip setting the tone and everyone feeding off of that. Emma's been good at captivating the team and keeping them going."

As Artichuk explained after the win over McMaster, a big factor in the team's success is their ability to "just take it one rock at a time, one end at a time". 

"The girls like to sing songs on the ice to keep it loose, so yeah, it's just a really fun environment out there," Artichuk said. 

More strategically speaking, she explained how the team feels a lot more comfortable playing with a few extra rocks in play.

"We love being able to put the pressure on the other team and see if they can react to it, and yeah, we were super successful today."

Laurier will look to run the table on the final day of pool play at the Lethbridge Curling Club on Thursday, but they will face another stiff test from the get-go with a 1 vs 2 match-up against the AUS champion Dalhousie at 2:30pn (EST). The Tigers currently hold a 4-1 record.

The Golden Hawks will wrap up against the host Lethbridge Pronghorns (1-4) at 10:30 pm (EST).