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Defending world champs finally give Sask boys their first loss

Jan 20, 2019 | 9:04 PM

It took the defending world men’s champion British Columbia squad to put a blemish on Team Saskatchewan’s perfect record at the 2018 New Holland Canadian Junior Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships in Prince Albert Sunday.  

Team Saskatchewan of Rylan Kleiter, Trevor Johnson, Joshua Mattern and Matthieu Taillon had a 3-0 record heading into the matchup against the B.C. behemoths, but now sit at 3-1 after a 5-3 victory. With the win, B.C.’s Tyler Tardi, Sterling Middleton, Matthew Hall and Alex Horvath are 3-0 to start their tournament. For Tardi and Middleton, they can become the first players to win three junior men’s national championships.

B.C. barely missed a shot all game, as Tardi actually shot at 99 per cent, and his team was at 90 per cent.  

Saskatchewan was able to get a point in the first end, but B.C. answered with two in the second and then stole singles in the third, fifth and sixth ends to go ahead 5-1. Saskatchewan got a pair in the eight, but eventually ran out of rocks in the 10th end.

On the women’s side, Sara England and Team Saskatchewan picked up their second win to beat Prince Edward Island 7-3. And Skylar Ackerman and the hosting team from Moose Jaw pushed hard for their win, but eventually fell to Ontario 10-9.

Unlucky

The Team Alberta boys might just be the unluckiest team in at the 2019 New Holland Canadian Junior Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships in Prince Albert.

Alberta, featuring skip Desmond Young, third Dustin Mikush, second Jacob Libbus and lead Gabriel Dyck, sit at 1-2 through their first two days in the tournament, with both of their losses coming in extra ends.

After beating Newfoundland and Labrador 8-6, Alberta lost 8-7 to Ontario in the 12th end. They had the hammer in the 11th, but somehow managed to blank the end. Ontario stole one in the 12th to hand Alberta their first loss.

Then against Team Saskatchewan, they also fell in extra ends 7-6. Young did well to score two in the 10th end on his last shot to force the extra end, but Kleiter was able to make a safe hit for the win.

Speaking of unlucky, the Newfoundland and Labrador women’s side lost on a measurement after the very last rock of the game, and fell 8-7 to Manitoba after 10 ends.

Women’s Day 2

Scores

Alberta 14 Nunavut 2

Northern Ontario 7 Host 1

Nova Scotia 8 Ontario 5

New Brunswick 16 Northwest Territories 2

Quebec 5 Prince Edward Island 3

Northern Ontario 18 Nunavut 2

Manitoba 8 Newfoundland and Labrador 7

Ontario 10 Host 9

Saskatchewan 7 Prince Edward Island 3

Alberta 8 British Columbia 6

Pool A Standings

Alberta 3-0

Nova Scotia 2-0

Northern Ontario 2-1

British Columbia 2-1

Ontario 1-2

Host 0-3

Nunavut 0-3

Pool B Standings

Manitoba 3-0

Quebec 3-0

Saskatchewan 2-1

New Brunswick 2-1

Newfoundland and Labrador 1-2

Northwest Territories 0-3

Prince Edward Island 0-4

Men’s Day 2

Scores

Newfoundland and Labrador 11 Yukon 4

Nova Scotia 8 New Brunswick 5

Newfoundland and Labrador 8 Ontario 6

Northern Ontario 7 Prince Edward Island 6

Saskatchewan 7 Alberta 6 (11 ends)

British Columbia 5 Saskatchewan 3

New Brunswick 11 Northern Ontario 7

Quebec 11 Northwest Territories 2

Manitoba 7 Prince Edward Island 3

Yukon 15 Nunavut 3

Pool A Standings

British Columbia 3-0

Saskatchewan 3-1

Newfoundland and Labrador 2-1

Ontario 1-2

Yukon 1-2

Alberta 1-2

Nunavut 0-3

Pool B Standings

Manitoba 3-0

New Brunswick 2-1

Northern Ontario 2-1

Nova Scotia 1-1

Prince Edward Island 1-2

Quebec 1-2

Northwest Territories 0-3

 

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW