Defending champion Birt eliminated in final round-robin game
(by Mitch MacDonald) The Kim Dolan and Meghan Hughes rinks will meet at 6:30 p.m. today at the Charlottetown Curling Club to decide the provincial Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women’s title.
The winner of today’s final, pitting two Charlottetown teams with a close history, will represent P.E.I. at the national Scotties next month in Red Deer, Alta.
Dolan, who has skipped eight P.E.I. Scotties winning teams, earned a spot in the championship game after a dramatic come-from-behind, extra-end 10-9 win over clubmate Sarah Fullerton during semifinal play Sunday afternoon.
Fullerton, whose rink includes mate Michelle McQuaid, second Sara MacRae and lead Hillary Thompson, took an early 6-1 after scoring five on the fourth end.
Fullerton had won her third consecutive P.E.I. junior championship earlier this year and is competing in the Canadian Juniors next month in Napanee, Ont.
Guardian photo by Brian McInnis
Skip Kim Dolan releases her stone during Scotties action Sunday against Sarah Fullerton at the Charlottetown Curling Club. Dolan downed Fullerton 10-9 and will meet Meaghan Hughes at 6:30 p.m. today in the final.
Dolan, whose rink includes mate Rebecca Jean MacDonald, a six-time P.E.I. Scotties champ and Canadian mixed winner, along with second Sinead Dolan and lead Nancy Cameron, staged a dramatic rally to pull out the win.
“We were just thankful it (the five points) was early enough in the game that we still had some time,” said Dolan during a post-game interview with The Guardian. “The last half of the game is always when you turn it up. We just put a lot of rocks in play and things went our way.”
Things started going Dolan’s way when she scored a triple in the fifth end.
While Fullerton got a double in the sixth end, Dolan got a single in the seventh then stole the eighth for a single and ninth for a triple to get a late 9-8 lead.
The comeback came from a mix of determination and focus, said Dolan.
“That’s what’s key to the whole thing. You could easily give up but the three players in front of me really hung on and made all their shots,” she said. “I couldn’t say enough about the way they played.”
Fullerton got a single in the 10th end to push the game into an extra end but Dolan took advantage of the hammer to score a single and seal her rink’s place in today’s championship game.