The Trent Excalibur men's curling team worked overtime on Sunday to earn a spot at the provincial championships.

Trent started its second tie-breaking game at 10:30 p.m. Sunday against Laurier at the Peterborough Curling Club and won 7-6 in an extra end. The winner advanced to the OUA championships this weekend in Waterloo. The game ended at 1 a.m.

Nine universities competed in the OUA Cross-Over Tournament at the PCC Saturday and Sunday. The top four in both men's and women's play advanced to provincials.

The Trent men, skipped by Kitchener native Simon Barrick, went 3-2 in round-robin play, after going 1-2 at East Sectionals, to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place at 4-4. They then beat Queen's 5-3 in the first tie-breaker.

Earlier in the weekend, Trent lost 8-5 to Western then beat Windsor 7-6, got past Laurier 5- 2, lost to Brock 5-1 and beat Waterloo 5-2.

It was a big improvement for a team which was 1-7 last year and still has two years left together. Barrick's teammates include Mike Bryson, Tyler Jones and Behn Lane.

"Last year we had some tough luck but this year team chemistry is better," said Barrick. "We're making our opportunities instead of relying on luck. We're making teams have to beat us."

While he says there is room for improvement, Barrick was happy with his team's play.

"We made some mistakes, but overall its been a vast improvement. Our goal was for our last game to have some meaning. We reached our goal," he said.

Men's teams to secure OUA berths included Western (8-0), University of Toronto (5-3) and Laurentian (5-3).

On the women's side, Trent's Stephanie Van Huyse admitted to disappointment at her 4-4 record which placed her fifth and out of the provincials. On Saturday, Van Huyse lost 6-4 to Western, beat Windsor 4-3 and fell 7-4 to Laurentian. On Sunday, she lost 4-3 to Brock and finished with a 6-4 win over Waterloo. She entered the weekend at 2-1.

"We put all the practice into it hoping for more," said Van Huyse, whose teammates are Jenna Bonner, Genevieve Bernier, Becky Clements and Marteen Lortie.

"You do your best, but it wasn't really our weekend," she said. "We definitely didn't play very good. Not even a B level or C level."

Van Huyse is a first-year student and only Bonner is graduating.

"This is a big learning experience for us," Van Huyse said. The top four women's teams were Brock (8-0), Western (6-2), Waterloo (5-3) and Laurier (5- 3).

mikedavies@peterboroughexaminer.com