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Thomas Scoffin is disappointed after an early exit from the Alberta Boston Pizza Cup.

But the University of Alberta skip is taking his team鈥檚 first appearance at Alberta provincials in stride.

鈥淥verall it was a good experience for us. We played pretty well,鈥� he said. 鈥淧retty disappointing to come out of it with a 3-3 record. We had more in the tank.鈥�

Scoffin, who attends school at Edmonton鈥檚 U of A, honed his curling craft at the Whitehorse Curling Club.

His father, Wade Scoffin, is an alternate on the Yukon team heading to the Canadian men鈥檚 curling championships next month.

The Scoffin rink, with third Tristan Steinke, second Jason Ginter and lead Brett Winfield, started play against Team Robinson. They won it 6-4.

The game started slow, Scoffin said, as both teams were battling nerves and were figuring out the ice at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre.

The evening draw saw Team Scoffin face Team Lizmore in a tight battle that went into extra ends.

鈥淭hat was a tough one,鈥� said Scoffin. 鈥淲e played really well. That鈥檚 a game we should have won.

鈥淭hat game is on me.鈥�

Scoffin missed his shot in the extra end for the point, a shot he said he can make 90 per cent of the time.

They lost the game 7-6 and were bumped down to the B bracket.

Rested, they came back the next day to go undefeated against Team Lambden and Team Appelman, before falling to Team Thomas last Friday morning.

It was another slow start.

鈥淚 missed a few shots that put us in a hole,鈥� said Scoffin. 鈥淲e did a really good job of battling back.鈥�

But it was too little, too late. Team Scoffin lost 9-7 and went down to the C bracket, where they faced Team Sluchinski in a do-or-die-game.

It seemed Sluchinski couldn鈥檛 do any wrong in the game.

鈥淗e was making everything,鈥� said Scoffin. 鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 any way around him.鈥�

The Scoffin rink was knocked out of playoff contention, losing 5-4.

For this team roster, the season is over.

鈥淲e had a lot of close games against some of the best teams in Alberta,鈥� said Scoffin.

The Alberta Boston Pizza Cup was won by Team Bottcher, who will represent Alberta at the Tim Hortons Brier in March.

But Scoffin and third Steinke aren鈥檛 done with their season just yet. They will suit up for the U of A Golden Bears at the Western Canadian University Curling Championships at Edmonton鈥檚 Saville Community Sports Centre from March 3-5.

If all goes well, they could be competing at the U Sports Curling Championships, hosted by Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont. in mid-March.

Scoffin won the competition in 2015, his first career national-level win.

He was, however, unable to defend the title last year, falling 7-4 to the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks.