Nova Scotia teams bring home medals from under-21 curling nationals

For the second time in three years, a Nova Scotia women's team has gone undefeated at the Canadian under-21 curling championships.

Ally MacNutt's foursome won gold Sunday after defeating Ontario 9-5 in the final in Fort McMurray, Alta. MacNutt's team won 10 straight games in the competition.

"I think it was just all the little things that we did that made the difference," said MacNutt, who is from Truro, N.S. "We just focused on the process and really just took it one shot at a time."

MacNutt skipped the Dalhousie University women's curling team to a U Sports bronze medal three weeks ago

The under-21 win means the MacNutt foursome will play again next season. They've earned the right to represent Canada at the world under-21 championships in 2025, which may be held in Italy as a test event for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

"Our team just started playing together in September, but considering we were a new team we just all gelled really well together," said MacNutt. "We've become best friends on and off the ice, which doesn't always happen with a new team."

The rest of the MacNutt team includes lead Grace McCusker, who played with MacNutt at Dalhousie this year, third Maria Fitzgerald and second Alison Umlah.

Umlah is the only repeat national winner as she was a member of the Taylour Stevens team that went undefeated at the 2022 event.

"We went into it with maybe a bit of an underdog expectation," said Umlah, a Mount Saint Vincent University student. "Our goal was just to make the playoffs but as the week progressed and we started having success we expanded our goals because we knew the top of the podium was definitely achievable."

It is the first national championship for coach Theresa Breen. The current Nova Scotia senior women's champion twice won silver at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

The Nova Scotia men's team also had a good week.

The Truro team skipped by Calan MacIsaac fell 7-6 to Alberta in the final. Other members of the Nova Scotia silver-medal team are third Nathan Gray, second Owain Fisher and lead Christopher McCurdy.