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There鈥檚 no doubt who stole the show in Draw 1 of the 2017 Canadian Junior Men鈥檚 and Women鈥檚 Curling Championship at the Archie Browning Sports Centre and Esquimalt Curling Club.
One would swear the fans were humming, 鈥淥h my darling, Lenentine鈥� on the way out after P.E.I.鈥檚 Lauren Lenentine stunned the defending world and Canadian champion Nova Scotia rink, now skipped by Kristin Clarke, 6-4 in an extra end.
An exhausted Lenentine was looking for a nap after coming off the ice in the physically and mentally draining game against the former champs, who were previously skipped by Mary Fay.
鈥淵eah, that hurt the head. It was hard on the heart, too,鈥� said Lenentine, 16.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e the world champions, right? We played them a couple of times this year and we鈥檝e been really close. And we knew it would be hard.鈥�
On the very next sheet, P.E.I.鈥檚 Tyler Smith knocked off Quebec鈥檚 Vincent Roberge 7-5 in another upset as the East Coast Islanders, farthest from Vancouver Island, got off to a great start.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really nice to see both of us getting wins in our first games. It takes a bit of stress off us knowing that we can compete,鈥� said Lenentine. 鈥淲e鈥檙e underdogs in P.E.I.鈥�
Lenentine had played Clarke twice previously and lost on last rocks in both efforts. 鈥淭hey are familiar to us, so that was a good thing, just knowing who we鈥檙e playing and how they play and we knew we could probably stay with them,鈥� said Lenentine.
In other opening women鈥檚 play, sa国际传媒 downed Northern Ontario 4-3 in a defensive battle.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always nice to start off the competition with a win. It gets your feet underneath you and makes you feel good,鈥� said sa国际传媒 third Marika Van Osch of Nanaimo, who, along with skip Corryn Brown, second Dezaray Hawes and lead Samantha Fisher are 1-0.
Northern Ontario鈥檚 Krysta Burns鈥� draw for two in the 10th end was a tad heavy or it could have been an extra end there as well. Burns had thrown the same shot on her previous stone without difficulty.
鈥淭hose ones are always hard because your adrenaline is going. Those are heartbreakers to miss, but I definitely didn鈥檛 think she鈥檇 miss it,鈥� said Van Osch.
Elsewhere in women鈥檚 afternoon play, Manitoba鈥檚 Laura Burtnyk downed Zoey Walsh of the NWT 9-3 and New Brunswick鈥檚 Samantha Cook toppled Yukon鈥檚 Alyssa Meger 10-4.
In men鈥檚 afternoon play, Manitoba鈥檚 J.T. Ryan beat Newfoundland/Labrador鈥檚 Greg Blyde 8-5; Saskatchewan鈥檚 Rylan Kleiter let a 3-3 tie get away in the last three ends in a 9-3 loss to Nova Scotia鈥檚 Matthew Manuel; and Alberta鈥檚 Colton Goller peppered a young Sawer Kaeser鈥檚 NWT team 12-3.
In the evening women鈥檚 draw, Lenentine lost 13-8 to Saskatchewan鈥檚 Kaitlyn Jones; Quebec鈥檚 Camille Boisvert defeated Sadie Pinksen of Nunavut 8-5; Ontario鈥檚 Hailey Armstrong downed Northern Ontario鈥檚 Burns 9-4 and Kristen Streifel of Alberta lost 6-3 to Newfoundland/Labrador鈥檚 Brooke Godsland.
In men鈥檚 action, New Brunswick鈥檚 Liam Marin beat P.E.I.鈥檚 Smith 8-3; Kleiter bounced back for a 14-0 win over Nunavut鈥檚 Arthur Siksik; Alberta鈥檚 Goller downed Newfoundland/Labrador's Blyde 7-4 and Northern Ontario鈥檚 Tanner Horgan (last year鈥檚 silver medallist) dumped Nova Scotia鈥檚 Manuel 8-4.
