REGINA, Sask. - The Laurier Golden Hawks men's curling team opened its national title defence with a 4-1 loss to the Canada West champion Alberta Golden Bears in their opening draw at the 2026 U SPORTS/Curling Canada University Championships at the Callie Curling Club.
Laurier arrived in Regina as the defending national champions and in pursuit of the program's sixth national title, riding the momentum of their 14th OUA championship captured just over a week ago.
Skipped by OUA championship MVP Kibo Mulima, the Golden Hawks lineup features vice and OUA first-team all-star Landan Rooney, second and OUA second-team all-star Wyatt Small, lead Wyatt Wright, and alternate Nathan Kim. The rink is guided by head coach Matt Wilkinson.
Taking to the ice, Laurier carried last shot advantage into the opening end but was forced to blank. Alberta, coming off its fourth Canada West championship in the past seven seasons, capitalized in the second with a steal of one to take a 1-0 lead.
After another blank in the third, the Golden Bears delivered the game's decisive swing in the fourth, stealing two to extend their advantage to 3-0.
Laurier tightened up through the middle ends and limited further damage, but Alberta added a single in the fifth.
The Golden Hawks broke through with their lone point in the sixth, but Alberta closed out the contest with singles in the seventh and eighth to secure the low-scoring victory.
With round-robin play still in its early stages, the eight-team tournament continues Wednesday with a pair of match-ups.
Laurier will face the York Lions first at 1:30 p.m. ET. The Lions (0-1) enter the national championship as the OUA bronze medalists and will provide a familiar provincial challenge.
The evening session will see Laurier take on the host Regina Cougars at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Cougars finished fourth at the Canada West championships and will look to leverage home-ice advantage.
Live scoring is available for both draws:
WLU vs YRK
WLU vs REG
The top four teams in each competition will advance to the semifinals on Saturday morning, with gold and bronze medal games set for Saturday afternoon.
