Newfoundland and Labrador male curlers clinch Canada Games playoff berth

Newfoundland and Labrador’s male curling team clinched a playoff spot Thursday night at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Der, Alta., by defeating Quebec 5-3.
The Newfoundland entry, which includes skip Nathan Young (Torbay), third Sam Follett (Paradise), second Nathan Locke (C.B.S.) and lead Ben Stringer (C.B.S.) stole three in the seventh end en route to the victory, which improved its record to 7-2.
That puts the St. John’s-based rink in a tie for third place with Alberta behind Ontario and British Columbia at 8-1.
The Young rink’s two setbacks came against Ontario and B.C, with the loss to the latter (6-2 score) coming earlier Thursday.
Newfoundland finishes its preliminary-round schedule with a game today against Nova Scotia (1:30 p.m. NT), while Ontario plays Quebec and Alberta squares off against B.C.
The top six teams in the 12-team competition advance to the playoffs, but the first-and second-place finishers earning a bye directly into the semifinals tonight. The quarter-finals are this afternoon (5:30 p.m. NT).
The N.L. female Games curling team has a 3-6 record and is out of playoff contention, but the Corner Brook-based team of skip Mackenzie Mitchell, Sarah McNeil Lamswood, Mikayla O’Reilly and Ainsleigh Piercey, will look to finish strongly against P.E.I. today. And they'll have the momentum gained in Thursday night’s 9-8 win over Quebec, where the Newfoundlanders scored three on Mitchell’s final shot of the last end for the victory.
In female hockey, Newfoundland and Labrador takes on Prince Edward Island today in a game to decide ninth place.
Newfoundland is coming off a 3-0 placement-round win over the Northwest Territories on Thursday. Team captain Shailynn Snow of Bay Roberts and Isabella Weist of Torbay each had a goal and an assist for the winners, while Kaylee Hurley of Badger made 24 saves for the shutout.
In Games gymnastics, the Newfoundland duos of Willow King and Allison Moore, along with Josh Skinner and Gleb Evstigneev, each posted fifth-place finishes in synchro trampoline events.