Manitoba’s Mackenzie Zacharias might have a claim for winning one of the craziest contests in the women’s event at the 2019 New Holland Canadian Juniors.
Despite holding a 5-0 lead after two ends and a three-point advantage following the eighth, the Winnipeg rink found themselves tied up at seven coming home after Newfoundland & Labrador’s Mackenzie Glynn got a three-ender in the ninth.
“We had a really strong first half to build the lead, which came in handy big time in the second half when we started to struggle,” Zacharias said.
“With that said, Newfoundland played great all game long. They didn’t give us much to work with in the second half and it came down to the very end, which is all you can ask for.”
In the tenth end, Glynn and Zacharias each had stones surrounded the button, with neither team being able to tell who was shot.
After a Curling Canada official brought out a measuring device and placed it in the pin, it was determined that Manitoba’s rock was closer by mere millimetres.
“I was 99 percent confident that we were shot, but (third) Lauryn (Kuzyk) wasn’t sure,” Zacharias said.
“We threw our last rock away as we would have probably moved our stone if we tried to do anything, so we just waited to see what the officials had to say and hoped for the best.”
With the win, Zacharias improved her record to 3-0 and is in a tie for first place in Pool B with Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges ahead of a matchup between both teams at the Prince Albert Golf and Curling Club Monday afternoon.
“If we can combine the first half of this game and our second half from last night’s game against Saskatchewan, I think we’ll be in good shape going forward,” Zacharias said.
“It’s so tough to get out of Manitoba and you never know if you’ll have a chance to get to this point. To be here in Prince Albert is the icing on the cake.”
In the other women’s games at the Art Hauser Centre, New Brunswick’s Justine Comeau cruised to a 16-2 win over Tyanna Bain of the Northwest Territories, St-Georges topped Prince Edward Island’s Lauren Ferguson by a score of 5-3 and Northern Ontario’s Kira Brunton had a pair of six-enders in a 18-2 romp over Nunavut’s Sadie Pinksen.
The lone men’s game at the Art Hauser Centre saw Saskatchewan’s Rylan Kleiter improve his record to 3-0 as they topped Alberta’s Desmond Young in a 7-6 extra-end affair.
“It was one of those games where what we do in practice paid off,” third Trevor Johnson said.
“We work on all situations, so if gets crowded out there we know the shots that we have to make to get out of trouble.”
Saskatchewan is now gearing up for a big matchup at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre, as they’ll take on a 2-0 British Columbia squad that is skipped by two-time defending national champion and reigning world title holder Tyler Tardi.
“That’s a game that we have had circled on our calendar for awhile now,” Johnson said.
“I think being able to play in a tough match against Alberta is really good for us, as it will allow us to get in the right mental state.”
In a pair of games at the Prince Albert Golf & Curling Club, Northern Ontario’s Tanner Horgan edged Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith in a 7-6 contest and Newfoundland & Labrador’s Greg Blyde picked up an 8-6 victory over Ontario’s Samuel Steep.
Standings After Draw 5
Men’s
Pool A
- Saskatchewan (Rylan Kleiter) – 3-0
- British Columbia (Tyler Tardi) – 2-0
- Newfoundland & Labrador (Greg Blyde) – 2-1
- Alberta (Desmond Young) – 1-2
- Ontario (Samuel Steep) – 1-2
- Nunavut (Javen Komaksiutikask) – 0-2
- Yukon (Trygg Jensen) – 0-2
Pool B
- Manitoba (J.T. Ryan) – 2-0
- Northern Ontario (Tanner Horgan) – 2-0
- New Brunswick (Jack Smeltzer) – 1-1
- Nova Scotia (Graeme Weagle) – 1-1
- Prince Edward Island (Tyler Smith) – 1-1
- Northwest Territories (Sawer Kaeser) – 0-2
- Quebec (Vincent Roberge) – 0-2
Women’s
Pool A
- Alberta (Selena Sturmay) – 2-0
- British Columbia (Sarah Daniels) – 2-0
- Nova Scotia (Kaitlyn Jones) – 2-0
- Northern Ontario (Kira Brunton) – 2-1
- Host Team (Skylar Ackerman) – 0-2
- Ontario (Thea Coburn) – 0-2
- Nunavut (Sadie Pinksen) – 0-3
Pool B
- Manitoba (Mackenzie Zacharias) – 3-0
- Quebec (Laurie St-Georges) – 3-0
- New Brunswick (Justine Comeau) – 2-1
- Saskatchewan (Sara England) – 1-1
- Newfoundland & Labrador (Mackenzie Glynn) – 1-2
- Northwest Territories (Tyanna Bain) – 0-3
- Prince Edward Island (Lauren Ferguson) – 0-3
Draw 6 Schedule – 7 p.m.
Art Hauser Centre
- Sheet A – Ontario/Host Team (Women’s)
- Sheet B – British Columbia/Saskatchewan (Men’s)
- Sheet C – New Brunswick/Northern Ontario (Men’s)
- Sheet D – Quebec/Northwest Territories (Men’s)
- Sheet E – Prince Edward Island/Manitoba (Men’s)
Prince Albert Golf & Curling Club
- Sheet G – Prince Edward Island/Saskatchewan (Women’s)
- Sheet H – Yukon/Nunavut (Men’s)
- Sheet I – Alberta/British Columbia (Women’s)
