Northern Ontario women keeping pace at Juniors

As always, there’s no substitute for experience, and the Northern Ontario women are proving that second time around. Skipped by Kendra Lilly of Sudbury, the Idylwylde Golf & Country Club team moved to 5-1 at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, just behind the unbeaten (5-0) but idle leader, Ontario (Rachel Homan of Ottawa), after a 10-3 dismantling of Prince Edward Island (Sarah Fullerton of Cornwall) in Tuesday morning’s Draw 10. Last year, Lilly played third for skip Vanessa Maloney at the Canadian Juniors in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, along with second Jenny Gates and lead Kaitlynd Burns.   And they did alright in their first national appearance, finishing in a three-way tie for fifth with a 6-6 mark. This year, Lilly has taken the reins, adding third Kim Curtin, to go along with Gates and Burns. “We’re playing pretty well,” said the 18-year-old Lilly, a sports administration student at Laurentian.  “We’re just trying to hold our ground right now, keep winning a few games and hopefully make the playoffs. “Our team last year played together for eight years.  Our team dynamics were awesome.  She  (Vanessa) brought a lot of experience, but Kim also does.  She’s been to the University nationals, so she’s helped a lot and been a very good vice for me. “Last year, we came here and said, ‘we’re just going to have fun, go through the whole experience.’  This year, we know what the competition is like, we know it’s going to be a really long week, so our expectations are pretty high this year.  There’s been no surprises, really.  All the teams are strong, so we’re prepared for that.” Tied with Northern Ontario for second at 5-1 is Saskatchewan (Trish Paulsen of Saskatoon), which bested Alberta (Nadine Chyz of Calgary), 9-8.   In other games, New Brunswick (Jessica Daigle of Saint John) edged British Columbia (Dailene Sivertson of Victoria), 7-6, stealing a single in an extra end after tying the game with a deuce in the 10th.   Nova Scotia (Tara LeGay) trounced Northwest Territories (Amanda Moizis of Hay River), 22-2. In men’s, undefeated Manitoba (Alex Forrest of Winnipeg), at 5-0, had a bye.  Saskatchewan (Braeden Moskowy of Regina) clipped Alberta (Brendan Bottcher of Edmonton), 7-6, taking two in the deciding 10th frame to move to 5-1. Defending champion Prince Edward Island (Brett Gallant of Charlottetown) extended its winning streak to four games with a 9-6 win over Northern Ontario (Christian Tolusso of Thunder Bay) to move to 5-2.  Idle Ontario (Jake Walker of Kitchener) is at 4-1. British Columbia (Tyler Klymchuk of Langley) improved to 4-2, tied with Alberta, after a 12-3 trouncing of New Brunswick (Josh Barry of Rothesay) while Nova Scotia (Scott Garnett of Halifax) took care of Northwest Territories (Colin Miller of Yellowknife), 9-3 to move to 4-3. Play continues with draws at 2:30 pm and 7:00 pm, at both Colisée Cardin and Club de curling Aurèle-Racine.