Kim Dolan to play in her 9th national women’s championship
Photo (L-R): Michala Robison, Nancy Cameron, Sinead Dolan, Rebecca Jean MacDonald, Kim Dolan
For the first time since 1999, Kim Dolan will be playing in the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts, this time in Red Deer Alberta, from February 18 to 26, and this time with her daughter Sinead at second stone. Dolan won her 9th PEI Scotties tonight with a 6-4 win over the Meaghan Hughes foursome. The veteran team also includes Rebecca Jean MacDonald, a six-time PEI women’s champ, who threw final stones for Dolan when she won in 1995, 1997, and 1999, at third, along with lead Nancy Cameron, who has been on four women’s championship rinks. Michala Robison is the team’s fifth player, and Peter MacDonald was the team’s coach for this event.
Photo (L-R) Stefanie Clark, Jackie Reid, Tricia Affleck, Meaghan Hughes
The Hughes foursome includes Stefanie Clark, Jackie Reid, and Tricia Affleck, with coaches Rod MacDonald and John Likely.
Photo (L-R) Dolan and MacDonald facing four in the eighth
Tonight’s game was played very conservatively through the sixth end, with the teams tied at two. Dolan took the lead with a triple in seven, and hit her way out of trouble in the eighth, when she was facing four Hughes counters, yet managed to come out of the end with steal of one. Hughes picked up a deuce in the 9th, but Dolan hit everything in sight in the last end, and ran the Hughes rink out of rocks.
Photo: Game over-the Dolan rink run the Hughes team out of rocks
After the game, Dolan remarked that it was great to be back at the Scotties, and especially to have the opportunity to represent PEI at the Canadian women’s championship with her daughter, which would appear to be a first for PEI curling.
Another Scotties veteran, Heather Strong from Newfoundland and Labrador, won her 10th provincial women’s title on the weekend. Amber Holland, who won the Scotties last year here in Charlottetown will be competing as Team Canada. The remainder of the representatives across the country will be determined over the next week.
Dolan beats Fullerton in extra end to advance to
Monday
Scotties final against Hughes
Jan. 22-The rink skipped by eight-time PEI Scotties champion Kim Dolan edged out the Sarah Fullerton foursome by a 10-9 come-from-behind extra-end score this afternoon to advance to the Monday evening final of the PEI Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Charlottetown Curling Club, where they will take on the Meaghan Hughes rink for the PEI women’s title and a trip to the Canadian Scotties, February 18-26 in Red Deer Alberta.
Fullerton, who scored five points in the fourth end, was ahead 6-1 after four ends, and 8-4 after 6, but Dolan took singles in seven and eight, and stole a triple in nine to lead 9-8 after nine ends. Fullerton tied it in the 10th, giving last rock advantage in the extra end to Dolan. The PEI junior champ ran into difficulties in the extra, after crashing on a guard. Other members of the veteran Dolan rink are Rebecca Jean MacDonald, a six-time PEI Scotties champ and Canadian Mixed winner, along with Sinead Dolan (Kim’s daughter), lead Nancy Cameron, alternate Michala Robison, and coach Peter MacDonald.
Rounding out the Fullerton rink, who recently won their third consecutive PEI Junior Championship, and are competing in the Canadian Juniors February 4-12 in Napanee Ont. are Michelle McQuaid, Sara MacRae, and Hillary Thompson, with coach Angela Hodgson.
Meaghan Hughes, who won the last of her four consecutive PEI Junior titles in 2006, advanced to the final by finishing first in the round robin, which wrapped up this morning. Hughes and Fullerton both had 4-1 records in the round robin, but Hughes was awarded first place because she beat Fullerton in their round robin encounter. Dolan was in third place at 3-2. Playing with Hughes are Stefanie Clark, who played 3rd for Suzanne Birt when she won the World Junior championship in 2001, Jackie Reid, a member of Rebecca Jean MacDonald’s Canadian Mixed team, and Tricia Affleck, a member of the Kathy O’Rourke rink, who were silver medallists in the 2010 national Scotties.
The Hughes and Dolan rinks are well-known to each other, as both Sinead Dolan and alternate Michala Robison were on Hughes’ junior team, and Kim Dolan was one of their coaches.
Defending champion Suzanne Birt, considered by many to be the favorite to win the event, finished out of the playoffs with a 2-3 record, losing her last three games to Dolan (6-5), Hughes (7-4) and Fullerton (9-6). The other two teams in the event, skipped by Donna Butler and Tammy Lowther, finished with 1-4 records.
Monday’s final starts at 6:30 pm at the Charlottetown Curling Club, with end-by-end results available at LiveCurling.com.
Birt rink out at the PEI Scotties-
Hughes in final, Fullerton vs Dolan in 3 pm semi
Jan. 22-The defending champion Suzanne Birt rink from the host Charlottetown Curling Club will not get a chance to repeat as PEI Scotties champions. In this morning’s final round robin draw, the Meaghan Hughes foursome came from behind to win 7-4 and eliminate Birt from the playoff round.
Birt opened the scoring with a stolen triple in the second end, and led the game 4-3 after seven ends, but Hughes took a triple in the eighth, stole a single in the ninth, and ran the Birt rink out of rocks in the final end. In the other games this morning, the Sarah Fullerton rink from Charlottetown and Cornwall beat Montague’s Tammy Dewar 8-6, while Kim Dolan lost 6-5 to Charlottetown clubmate Donna Butler.
Birt finished round robin play with a 2-3 win-loss record, while Hughes, and PEI Junior champ Fullerton ended play at 4-1, and Dolan finished at 3-2. These three teams advance to the playoff round. Since the Hughes rink beat the Fullerton in their round robin game on Saturday, they will be awarded first place, and will advance directly to the final, Monday at 6:30 pm. Second place Fullerton and third place Dolan will face off in the semi-final, at 3 this afternoon.
The PEI Scotties winner will advance to the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Feb. 18-26 in Red Deer Alberta.
Fullerton and Dolan win over Birt, and share PEI Scotties lead with Hughes
Jan. 21-With one round robin draw remaining, three teams share the lead after Saturday play at the PEI Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women’s curling championship at the Charlottetown Curling Club. The Sarah Fullerton rink, three-time defending PEI Junior champs, in their last year of Junior eligibility, handed defending Scotties champion Suzanne Birt her second loss of the day Saturday evening, by a 9-6 score. Birt lost a close 6-5 game to eight-time PEI women’s champ Kim Dolan in the afternoon draw, and sits at 2-2, while Fullerton and Dolan, along with another Charlottetown Curling Club team skipped by four-time PEI Junior champ Meaghan Hughes, are at the top of the standings with 3-1 win-loss records.
Fullerton’s first loss, 10-6 to Hughes, came in the afternoon draw, while Dolan beat Montague’s Tammy Dewar rink 7-3 and Hughes came from behind to edge the Donna Butler team 9-8 in an extra end the evening draw. Butler led 8-2 after seven ends, but Hughes came back with a double, followed by steals of 1, 3, and 1 to pull out the win. Dewar currently sits at 1-3, while Butler is 0-4.
The final round robin draw, Sunday morning at 10, sees Birt face off against Hughes, Fullerton take on Dewar, and Dolan play Butler. The 3 pm draw will see either the semi-final between the second and third place teams out of the round robin, or a tiebreaker, if needed. If a second tiebreaker is required, it will go at 8 pm.
If the semi-final is not played Sunday afternoon, it will go Monday at 1:30 pm. The championship game, between the winner of the semi and the first place team from the round robin, will go Monday at 6:30 pm, with the winner advancing to the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts, February 18-26 in Red Deer Alberta.
End-by-end results from the PEI Scotties are available at LiveCurling.com.
Birt, Fullerton 2-0 after PEI Scotties opening day