Amanda MacLean and Tyler Smith rinks win Canada Games berths
Dec. 14-The Cornwall Curling Club team skipped by eleven-year-old Tyler Smith edged our their clubmates, the Jeff Taylor foursome, by a 7-6 score this afternoon to cap off an extremely close junior men’s event at the Canada Games Curling Trials at the Charlottetown Curling Club, and advance to the Canada Games, February 11-27 2011 in Halifax. Smith, with hammer, opened the scoring with a deuce in the first end. Taylor blanked the second, and took the lead with a triple in the third end. Smith came back with three of his own in the fourth. The teams traded singles in five and six, and Taylor tied the game at six-all with a deuce in the seventh end. Smith scored a single point in the eighth for the win.
Photo (L-R): Tyson Smith, Noah O’Connor, Parker O’Connor, Tyler Smith, Kevin Smith (coach)
The Smith rink join the Amanda MacLean team from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, who earned the junior women’s berth on Sunday.
Other members of the winning Tyler Smith rink are Parker and Noah O’Connor, and Tyson Smith, with coach Kevin Smith. Alex Sutherland, Alex Jenkins, and Jonathan Schut, with coach AJ Campbell, round out the runner-up Jeff Taylor foursome.
All four teams in the junior men’s section had identical 3-3 win-loss records in the double round robin competition. The teams were ranked by draw to the button results, and competed in a tiebreaker round, with second-ranked Smith winning over top-ranked Taylor by an 8-4 score in the 1st vs 2nd place game on Sunday afternoon, earning a bye to today’s final. Taylor then played off against third-ranked Matthew MacLean of O’Leary, this morning. MacLean beat Tony Nabuurs’ Montague/Charlottetown rink in the 3rd vs 4th tiebreaker game on Sunday, by an 8-3 score, after taking five points in the seventh end.
In this morning’s game, Taylor edged MacLean 6-5 in an extra end to advance to this afternoon’s final against Smith.
Dec. 13-The Amanda MacLean rink from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O'Leary doubled Cornwall's Veronica Smith foursome by a 6-3 score this afternoon to win PEI's Junior Women's curling berth in the 2011 Canada Games, February 11-27 2011 in Halifax. The MacLean rink, which includes third Kassinda Bulger, second stone Emily Gray, and lead Aleya Quilty, with coaches Glen MacLean and Shelley Gray, followed a single in the first end with a stolen deuce in the second. Smith responded with singles in ends three and four, but MacLean came back with a pair in the fifth, for a 5-2 lead. The teams traded singles in six and seven, and MacLean ran Smith out of rocks in the eighth.
L-R: Shelley Gray (coach),Aleya Quilty, Emily Gray, Kassinda Bulger, Amanda MacLean, Glen MacLean (coach)
MacLean finished double round robin play in first place, with a 5-1 win-loss record, and advanced to the final against Smith, who ended round robin play in second place at 4-2. Jenny MacLean of Summerside finished at 2-4, while Leah Deveau from Montague ended play at 1-4. In the final round robin draw on Sunday morning, Smith doubled Jenny McLean 6-3, and MacLean beat Deveau 7-4. Other members of the runner-up Smith team are Katie Fullerton, Sabrina Smith, and Chloe McCloskey, with coaches Sarah Fullerton and Paul Smith.
In the Junior Men's section, the Cornwall rink skipped by 11 year old Tyler Smith, with third Parker O'Connor, second Noah O'Connor, and lead Tyson Smith, with coach Kevin Smith, defeated their clubmates, the Jeff Taylor team, by an 8-4 score in this afternoon's tiebreaker between the first and second place teams, earning a bye to the Junior Men's final, Monday at 1:30 pm. Matthew MacLean of O'Leary beat Tony Nabuurs of Montague 8-3 in the tiebreaker between the third and fourth place teams. MacLean now plays Taylor at 9 am Monday, with the winner facing Smith in the final.
The tiebreaker rounds were needed because all four junior men's teams finished the double round robin with identical 3-3 win-loss records, and PEI Curling Association rules dictate that a team cannot be eliminated from the championship round solely on round robin results. Draw to the button results were then used to rank the teams for the tiebreaker round, with Taylor awarded first place, followed by Smith at second, MacLean at third, and Nabuurs ranked in fourth position.