(by Eric McCarthy)
O’LEARY – Teams skipped by a brother and sister duo from the host Maple Leaf Curling Club will play in the C section finals of the Sylvan Learning provincial 17-and-under curling championships today at 9 a.m.
Amanda MacLean, this year’s P.E.I. Canada Games female curling team, can win the title with a win this morning over the Veronica Smith rink from Cornwall. She and her team of Kassinda Bulger, Emily Gray and Aleya Quilty already won the A and B finals of the triple-knockout championship. Smith was her opponent both times.
A snowstorm delayed the start of Sunday’s action until 5 p.m. Both C finals were originally scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday, which was to have been the third draw of the day. Only two were held.
In games Sunday, Smith advanced to the C final with a 10-2 victory over Charlottetown’s Megan Davies, and MacLean advanced with a 7-6 extra-end victory over Montague’s Carolyn Rose. Rose had scored four in the eighth end to earn extra playing time.
Matthew MacLean and his team of Marshall Smallman, Kevin Gallant and Allan MacLean is the defending provincial 17-and-under champion. They started off this year’s championship with two losses before storming back with a pair of wins.
Sunday, they were 6-5 winners over Cornwall’s Jeffrey Taylor rink. It was Taylor who handed MacLean an extra-end loss in the first draw of the competition.
MacLean plays Alex Matters in today’s C final. Matters got there with a 10-1 victory over Daniel McCarthy’s Western/Charlottetown rink.
Matters goes into the C final with only one loss – that coming to Taylor in the B final. He defeated Taylor in the A final.
Taylor, who now has two losses, awaits the winner of this morning’s MacLean/Matters game. A MacLean win would put himself, Matters and Taylor into a two-game championship round.
If Matters emerges the victor this morning, MacLean would be out and Matters would face Taylor in the championship round, and would have to be beaten twice to be denied the provincial title.
Eric McCarthy/Journal Pioneer
Photo: Alex Sutherland, third stone on the Jeffrey Taylor Cornwall Curling Club rink, calls to the front end during a crucial shot in the Sylvan Learning P.E.I. provincial 17-and-under curling championships at the Maple Leaf Curling Club.