SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — The Katie Shaw rink took the long road, while the Mitchell Schut team avoided the stress of a winner-take-all final to clinch its second provincial title in 2021.
The two rinks from the Cornwall Curling Club are the Pepsi P.E.I. junior women's and men's champions for curlers aged under-20. Both championships, held at the Silver Fox in Summerside last weekend, featured a modified-triple-knockout format.
“It feels really good,” said the 17-year-old Schut, who clinched the title with a 10-4 win over the Brayden Snow rink from the host club in the first game of the championship round on Sunday morning. “It’s the first (provincial junior title) for the four of us (as a team). It’s a special one.”
A Snow win in that game would have forced a one-game final in the afternoon.
It wasn’t an adversity-free weekend for Team Shaw that persevered and won two elimination games on Sunday against their clubmates, the Rachel MacLean rink, to complete play 4-2 (won-lost).
“It’s always exciting to win your province for sure,” said the 18-year-old Shaw, who calls Stratford home.
The provincial champions regularly go on to represent P.E.I. at the Canadian junior championships, but that event has been cancelled this year due to COVID-19.
Challenges
The David Murphy-coached Shaw rink, including third Lexie Murray, second Alexis Burris, lead Isabella Tatlock and alternate Hayden Ford, came to play on Sunday. MacLean needed to defeat Shaw just once to claim the provincial title.
Shaw took the morning draw 10-2 to force a winner-take-all final, which her rink won 6-1.
“We all came committed and focused to that first game (Sunday),” said Shaw. “We were all very determined to push it to the afternoon (final).”
Shaw said her rink “really brought the intensity” on Sunday. The skip was pleased with her team’s focus and communication, which she pointed out helped them figure out paths on the ice and make shots.
“We like to play a bit more of an open game than our opponents,” said Shaw. “In that sense, we kind of forced them into that game a little.”
At a glance
The following awards were presented at the 2021 Pepsi P.E.I. junior curling championships:
Sportsmanship
Women – Isabella Tatlock.
Men – Jack MacFadyen.
Coaching
Women – Robbie Lenentine (Ella Lenentine rink).
Men – Pat Quilty (Mitchell Schut rink).
Note: Players and officials voted on the awards.
Shaw, Murray and Tatlock won the 2019 provincial junior women’s title with the Lauren Ferguson-skipped rink. Shaw said the team was able to draw on strong chemistry and familiarity with each other.
“I’ve known them all for many years now,” said Shaw. “Izzy (Tatlock) and I started playing at the same time, and I started curling with Lexie the year after that.
"I’ve curled with Lexie since then, and I’ve gotten to go to a couple of nationals with Lexie and Alexis.”
Shaw, who returned to skipping last year, has won provincial championships as a skip in back-to-back years.
“Last year, we won the U18 provincials, and this year, to win a provincial junior (title), it definitely has built my confidence playing that position,” said Shaw.
Shaw said the influence and guidance of longtime coach David Murphy, who has been with the team since 2017, played a huge role in the rink's success.
“He was an integral part of our win,” said Shaw.
Two titles
2021 has been a special one for the Schut rink. Along with winning the junior title, Schut and his teammates captured the provincial under-18 crown in January.
“We went into the weekend trying to play the game we have been playing all season,” said Schut. “We won the U18s earlier in the year, and we were facing the same teams again in this one.
“We knew we had a good chance, but we couldn’t underestimate any of the teams because we knew they would put up a good fight against us.”
Overall, the Pat Quilty-coached Schut rink went 6-1 in the P.E.I. under-20 event. Schut’s teammates are lead Liam Kelly, second Cruz Pineau and Chase MacMillan, who throws skip stones. Schut handles the third’s shots.
“We had good composure out on the ice,” said Schut, who lives in Cornwall. “We helped each other out. When we were missing shots, we helped each other out by reinforcing what we were working on all season.
“Instead of getting down after missing a shot, we would work to make the next one. That helped us to bounce back well, where we never had back-to-back misses.”
After winning the A and B finals, the Schut rink had an opportunity to sweep all three section finals, which would have clinched the provincial championship.
But Team Snow stayed alive and handed the Schut rink its only loss of the weekend – a 9-3 decision – in the C final on Saturday night.
Schut said his team talked about getting back to playing its style on Sunday. That includes playing aggressively and grabbing control of games early, said Schut.
“We know we are a team that can defend the lead well,” said the skip.
By the numbers
Here are the scores from the 2021 Pepsi P.E.I. junior curling championships:
Thursday
6:30 p.m.
Rachel MacLean 11 Katie Shaw 4
Brayden Snow 12 Brock Rochford 8
Mitchell Schut 11 Isaiah Dalton 2
Friday
9:30 a.m. Draw
Rachel MacLean 8 Ella Lenentine 7
Mitchell Schut 9 Brayden Snow 5
6:30 p.m. Draw
Katie Shaw 11 Ella Lenentine 4
Brayden Snow 12 Isaiah Dalton 6
Mitchell Schut Brock Rochford 3
Saturday
9 a.m. Draw
Katie Shaw 12 Rachel MacLean 5
Mitchell Schut 10 Brayden Snow 0
2 p.m. Draw
Brayden Snow 8 Brock Rochford 5
Rachel MacLean 9 Ella Lenentine 2
Mitchell Schut 11 Isaiah Dalton 0
7 p.m.
Rachel MacLean 9 Katie Shaw 2
Brayden Snow 9 Mitchell Schut 3
Sunday
10 a.m. Draw
Katie Shaw 10 Rachel MacLean 2
Mitchell Schut 10 Brayden Snow 4
2 p.m. Draw
Katie Shaw 6 Rachel MacLean 1
Jason Simmonds is The Guardian's sports reporter. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @JpsportsJason .
