Leaders Emerge on Day Two of The Dominion Curling Club Championship

On Day Two of round robin play at the fourth annual The Dominion Curling Club Championship, teams from the Prairies continued to dominate on the Men’s side, while four teams remain undefeated on the Women’s. Draw 3 – Men The match between Northern Ontario and Alberta nearly produced an elusive 8-ender.  Alberta skip Dan Sherrard, from the Crestwood Curling Club in Edmonton, came very close with a spectacular 7 points in the third end – and a lead that Northern Ontario’s Russ Mellerup from Port Arthur Curling Club in Thunder Bay couldn’t overcome, despite taking 2 points in the fourth end. The game ended in an 11-3 Alberta victory. Saskatchewan skip Brian Humble, from the Saskatoon Sutherland Curling Club, used his strong front-end sweepers to his advantage on the way to an 11-2 victory over Nunavut skip Edmund MacDonald of the Iqaluit Curling Club. PEI skip Alan Inman, from the Crapaud Community Curling Club, played an aggressive game, including a measurement of a Quebec stone in the free guard zone during the second end; it was out, so no hit allowed.  Quebec skip Richard Faguy and his team from the Buckingham Curling Club took a 5-point lead in the fourth end, hanging on for a 7-5 win. Nova Scotia’s Wayne Sangster, of the Bluenose Curling Club in New Glasgow, and Ontario’s Jordan Keon, from the Richmond Hill Curling Club, played a close game which Ontario won 6-4. Manitoba skip Steve Irwin, from the Brandon Curling Club, won an 8-4 decision over Yukon skip Ray Mikkelsen of the Whitehorse Curling Club.  Rounding out the draw, British Columbia’s Richard Brower, from Peace Arch Curling Club, won 9-2 against Northwest Territories, skipped by Paul Delorey, whose team plays out of the Hay River Curling Club. Draw 4 – Women Team Quebec, skipped by Sonia Simard of the Amos Curling Club, scored a 5-ender and earned an impressive 8-1 win over Prince Edward Island’s Nola Murphy and her team from the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside. “We’re starting to feel like the ice is ours now” said Danette Tracey, skip of Team Saskatchewan after earning a 6-2 victory over Geneva Chislett’s Nunuvut squad from the Iqaluit Curling Club. The Alberta women from the Strathmore Curling Club took an early lead over Northern Ontario’s Karen Saarimaki, and finished up with a 9-2 victory. Despite a crowd of supportive fans behind the glass, Yukon’s Jody Smallwood and her team from the Whitehorse Curling Club weren’t able to overcome Team Manitoba’s Thistle Curling Club representatives, skipped by Lori Pellisier.  In a back-and-forth game, Manitoba took a leap in points after a strong fifth end, winning 8-3. In the game between Ontario’s Quinte Curling Club foursome, skipped by Caroline Deans, and Nova Scotia’s Marion MacAulay, Ontario held a lead from the start and finished with a 7-3 victory over the team from the Bluenose Curling Club in New Glasgow. The story of Draw 4 occurred between British Columbia and Northwest Territories.  In the fourth end, BC’s Deb Goodwin, of the Comox Valley Curling Club, took three points and a healthy lead over the Yellowknife Curling Club foursome skipped by Stacey Stabel, only to see Stabel fight back to a 5-5 tie after the eighth end.  In the extra end, BC was able to score a point for a 6-5 victory. Draw 5 – Men Prairie provinces continued to dominate in the men’s side of the round robin. Manitoba’s Irwin scored 4 in the third end to take the lead and defeat Northern Ontario 7-1.   Alberta’s Dan Sherrard won 7-4 over New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan won 7-4 over Nova Scotia. Team Newfoundland and Labrador recorded its first win of the event with a 9-1 victory over team Ontario.  Skip Paul Harvey was in control the entire game as it took his St. Johns’ rink teammates Steve Bragg, Mike Morrissey and Brian Noseworthy just five ends to complete the task. Curling in only their fourth game of the season and second at the event, Alan Inman and his Prince Edward Island rink from the Crapaud Curling Club matched up against Nunavut’s Edmund MacDonald.  At the fourth end break PEI lead 5-0 and was off to a great first half.  Nunavut took two in each of the fifth and sixth ends to tie up the game. In the seventh, a missed takeout by Nunavut gave Inman the chance to score 3 and solidify the win 8-5. (And apparently the Islanders’ cheering squad filled with Anne of Green Gables look-alikes celebrated loudly in the lounge!) Yukon and Northwest Territories, each seeking their first win, traded ends until the sixth, where Yukon scored 2 to go up 8-6.  Running Northwest Territories out of rocks in the eighth, Ray Mikkelsen and his Whitehorse Curling Club rink finally notched the win. Draw 6 – Women Stacy Stabel’s Yellowknife Curling Club team gave Northwest Territories its first win with an 11-0 victory over Yukon’s Jody Smallwood in Draw 6 Tuesday afternoon. Ontario’s Caroline Deans built up a big lead, using hammer to advantage defeating Newfoundland and Labrador’s Pam Osborne 7-2.  A great shot by NL second Tina Horlick in the sixth end wasn’t enough to offset Ontario’s big lead. Trailing 5-2 after six ends against Nunuvut’s Geneva Chislett, the foursome from PEI, skipped by Nola Murphy, scored a 7-ender to take the lead and an eventual 9-5 victory. Manitoba skip Lori Pelissier beat Northern Ontario 7-4, drawing cheers from the fans for her second-end draw to score a point and save the end.  In other games, Nova Scotia held Saskatchewan to 1, finishing with a final score of 6-1.  It all came down to the last rock for New Brunswick skip, Shannon Tatlock who sent her last stone safely into the four-foot for the win, beating  Alberta 6-3. Round robin play continues today at the Scarboro Golf and Country Club with four more draws. As of Wednesday morning, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan remain undefeated at the top of the Men’s standings. Manitoba and Ontario are undefeated in the Women’s, along with New Brunswick and Quebec who both have a game in hand. Two more days of round robin play will be followed by tie-breakers and semi-finals on Friday, and the two championship finals on Saturday.