Lou Nowlan wins his 16th PEI Masters men’s ch’ship, while Rachel MacLean skips her 1st Pepsi Junior Women’s ch’ship team

February 27, 2022

The PEI Masters Men’s Curling Championship, for curlers age 60 and over, will have to find room for yet another Lou Nowlan entry on the trophy, as he has now won his 16th Masters title, playing either the third or skip position. Nowlan and his host Silver Fox team of third David MacFadyen, 2nd Earle Proude, and lead Alan Montgomery, lost two of their first three games in the event but then pulled out five wins in a row, including the two championship games, against Cornwall’s Peter Rousseau rink, who won their first five games, but lost their last three, all to Nowlan. Other members of the Rousseau squad were third John Mullin, second Garth Cudmore, and lead Edgar Coffin.

PEI Masters Men’s champs (L-R): Lou Nowlan, David MacFadyen, Earle Proude, Alan Montgomery

Cornwall’s Shirley Berry rink won the Masters Women’s Division on Saturday (see previous story, below).

Junior Women’s champs (L-R): Rachel MacLean (skip), Sydney Howatt (3rd), Lexie Murray (second), Abby Barker (lead), David Murphy (coach)

Junior Women’s Finalist Team (L-R): Ella Lenentine (skip), Makiya Noonan, Kacey GAuthier, Erika Pater, coach Robbie Lenentine

Meanwhile, Cornwall’s Rachel MacLean, who skipped the finalist team last year, and her team won the PEI Pepsi Junior Women’s Championship at her host Cornwall Curling Club, with an 11-4 semi-final win over the Madalyn Easter rink from the Silver Fox, and an 11-7 victory in the final over clubmate Ella Lenentine and her team. Cornwall’s Mitchell Schut rink went undefeated to win the Junior Men’s division, which wrapped up on Saturday.

Curl PEI Vice President Ryan Giddens was on hand during the closing ceremonies to present the Asham Coaching Award for junior women’s team coaches to David Murphy, coach of the MacLean rink, and the junior women’s Sportsmanship award, to Lexie Murray, second on Team MacLean, who now advance to the 2022 New Holland Canadian Under-21 Curling Championships, Operated by Curling Canada, Mar. 25-Apr. 1, 2022 at the Stratford Rotary Complex in Stratford, Ont.

David Murphy (left), Asham Coaching award winner for junior women’s teams, with Curl PEI VP Ryan Giddens

Lexie Murray (left), Sportsmanship award winner for junior women’s teams, with Curl PEI VP Ryan Giddens

Berry and Schut repeat as Masters Women’s, Pepsi Juniors Men’s champs

February 26, 2022

Following Saturday play, two of the four champions have been determined for this weekend’s PEI curling championships, with Cornwall’s Shirley Berry team repeating as PEI Masters winner at the Silver Fox, while at their home Cornwall Curling Club, the Mitchell Schut foursome swept the PEI Junior Men’s event to repeat as champs.

Team Berry (L-R): Gloria Turner (2nd), Shirley Berry (skip), Sherren MacKinnon (3rd), Linda Fairhurst (lead)

Berry and her team lost their best of five series opener against Cornwall’s Sandy Hope squad 6-4, but reeled off three consecutive wins, by scores of 9-1, 6-5, and 9-2 to win the two-team event in four games. The winning Berry team includes third Sherren MacKinnon, second Gloria Turner and lead Linda Fairhurst. Other members of the Hope finalist team include Nancy MacFadyen (3rd), Karen Hardy (2nd), and Arleen Harris (lead).

PEI Pepsi Junior Men’s champions Team Schut (L-R): Mitchell Schut (skip), Chase MacMillan (4th), Cruz Pineau (2nd), Liam Kelly (lead), Pat Quilty (coach)

Finalist team (L-R): Brayden Snow skip), Jack MacFadyen (3rd), Liam Barbrick (2nd), Davis Nicholson (lead), David MacFadyen (coach)

Jane DiCarlo (Curl PEI Secretary) & Jack MacFadyen (Sportsmanship Award Winner – Men’s Division), third on Team Snow

Jane DiCarlo (Curl PEI Secretary) & David MacFadyen (Asham Coach Award Winner – Men’s Division), coach of Team Snow

Team Schut won all three modified triple knockout sections, all against clubmate Brayden Snow, to win the junior men’s title without having to play the championship round. The final game on Saturday night was a see-saw battle that saw Schut grab a 5-2 lead after six ends, but Snow pulled ahead with a five-point seventh end. Schut regained the lead with a triple in eight, but Snow came back with a deuce in nine to lead 9-8. Schut brought it to an extra with a tying single in ten, and stole another single to win in the extra end. Team Schut now advances to the 2022 New Holland Canadian Under-21 Curling Championships, Operated by Curling Canada, Mar. 25-Apr. 1, 2022 at the Stratford Rotary Complex in Stratford, Ont.

The PEI Masters Men’s section is down to two teams out of the six who started, with the Peter Rousseau rink from Cornwall, who won two modified triple knockout sections, having the advantage in the 2-game Sunday championship round at 10 am and, if needed, 2:30 pm against frequent Masters champ Lou Nowlan, as a win in either game will give Rousseau the title, while Nowlan needs to win both.

Meanwhile, there were three separate section winners in the four-team Pepsi Junior Women’s Divison, with Summerside’s Madalyn Easter rink winning the “A” 8-7 over Cornwall’s Ella Lenentine, who took the “B”, 6-5 over clubmate Rachel MacLean. MacLean, helped by a 5 point 9th end, then beat Lenentine 10-4 in the “C” qualifier. Easter faces MacLean in the semi-final at 9 am Sunday, with the winner taking on Lenentine in the 2 pm final. Lenentine got the bye to the final by virtue of playing in the most qualifiers (all three), while MacLean played in two and Easter in one.

PEI Masters: Men’s–Rousseau wins 1st qualifier, Women’s: Berry, Hope tied at 1-1. Pepsi Jrs: Schut captures men’s “A” Qual, Easter takes women’s “A”

February 25, 2022

Day 2 is over at the PEI Masters (age 60+) Curling Championships at the Silver Fox in Summerside and at the Pepsi PEI Junior Curling Championships at the Cornwall Curling Club.

At the Masters, Cornwall’s Peter Rousseau rink is currently undefeated at 4-0 and has captured the “A” qualifier in the modified triple knockout round, beating multiple Masters champ Lou Nowlan from the host club by a 5-3 score in that game. Rousseau then punched his ticket to the 9:30 am Saturday “B” qualifier, with a 7-3 win over O’Leary’s Clair Sweet foursome. He’ll be taking on Summerside’s Dale Cannon rink, who got by Nowlan by a 7-6 score in the “B” semi-final.

In the two-team best of three women’s division, Cornwall’s Shirley Berry and Sandy Hope teams have each won one game, with Hope taking the opener 6-4 by stealing a deuce in the final end, and Berry stealing the first 3 ends in game 2, by scores of 1, 4, and 2, and going on to win 9-1 in six ends. Games three and four go at 2 and 6:30 pm Saturday, with game five, if needed, taking place at 10 am Sunday.

End by end results are available at: https://peicurling.com/scoreboard/#!/competitions/7373

Nowlan and Rousseau advance to 1st PEI Masters Men’s Qualifier,

February 24, 2022

PEI curling championship play resumed on Thursday with two events, the PEI Masters Curling Championships for curlers age 60 and over, at the Silver Fox in Summerside, and the Pepsi Juniors in Cornwall. The Masters games are eight ends, while the Juniors play ten.

In the six-team Masters men’s division, frequent men’s winner Lou Nowlan from the host club, along with Peter Rousseau and his Cornwall team, have advanced to the first of three qualifying games for the championship round of the modified triple knockout draw, with Rousseau doubling Clair Sweet from the Maple Leaf club in O’Leary 8-4 in the opening draw, and beating Dale Cannon and his Summerside team 9-5 in the second draw. Defending champ Bill Hope from Cornwall won his opener 7-2 over Daryl MacDonald and his rink from the Western Comunity Curling Club in Alberton, but was defeated 9-3 in six ends by Nowlan in his second game. The “A” qualifier between Nowlan and Rousseau goes at 10 am Friday.

Full schedule and live scoring at: https://peicurling.com/scoreboard/#!/competitions/7373

The two Masters women’s teams are skipped by Cornwall’s Shirley Berry and Sandy Hope, and play the first game in their best of five series at 10 am Friday.

Rescheduled PEI Masters Ch’ships start Thursday in Summerside

February 20, 2022

The 2022 PEI Masters Curling Championships, with men’s and women’s divisions for curlers age 60 and over, were originally scheduled for January at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton, and are now set for the Silver Fox in Summerside, from February 24-27, with the six men’s teams playing a modified triple-knockout format with a two-game championship round, while the two women’s rinks will play a best-of-five series.