(by Jody Jewers)

P.E.I. takes down defending champs in front of capacity crowd at Civic Centre

Most people in the province had Monday off.

 Not Suzanne Birt.

 The reigning P.E.I. women’s curling champion and her Charlottetown rink of third Shelly Bradley, second Robyn MacPhee and lead Leslie MacDougall picked themselves up off the mat after getting dusted 8-2 by Ontario’s Rachel Homan on Monday morning, and with a capacity crowd of 3,278 urging them on blow by blow Monday night at the Civic Centre, took down three-time defending Scotties Tournament of Hearts winner Jennifer Jones and Team Canada 8-6.

 P.E.I. stays in the middle of the pack with a 2-3 record through three days of competition.

 “That felt pretty darn good, I gotta say,” Bradley exclaimed in the postgame interview area, claiming a “50/50” split between happiness and relief at not losing four of her squad’s first five games.

Click for full story in the Guardian.

Guardian photo by Brian McInnis

P.E.I.s Leslie MacDougall, left and Robyn MacPhee, sweep a stone into the house during the eighth draw in their game against Team Canada.