The rink from the Charlottetown Curling Complex and Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club seemed to hit full stride on Tuesday afternoon. MacDonald, third stone John Likely, second stone Mark O’Rourke and lead Peter MacDonald downed Saskatchewan’s Gord Bell 9-3 in seven ends.
“The guys are playing awfully well,” MacDonald said. “Hopefully we’ll keep getting stronger and stronger every game, and keep rolling.”
After giving up two points in the first end, MacDonald stormed back with a three-point second end. He’d then post one, two and three points, respectively, in the next three ends.
Saskatchewan went into the break down 9-2, but they came back with a decent end in the sixth, scoring its first point since the first.
However, MacDonald’s rink was too strong for the prairie team to climb back in the game.
They’d blank the seventh end, resulting in Bell choosing to concede the match.
It was a pivotal win for P.E.I., which was one of several teams heading into the draw with 3-2 (won-lost) records. MacDonald said the win leaves his team with a slight leeway.
“Every win is big now,” he said. “The way I look at it, we may be able to afford one more loss, but there’s a lot of good teams out here.”
With the level of competition between teams, MacDonald said there are no guarantees anymore.
“Anybody can beat anybody any given day, but I think 8-3 will get you a playoff spot.”
MacDonald got solid shooting from his entire team, namely from O’Rourke and Likely, who both shot 95 per cent.
Along with the solid play of his teammates, MacDonald also credits a bit of luck for the lopsided win.
“The guys played well for me all day, and it helped that we got some good rolls and got a few lucky breaks during the game,” he added.
There’s still lots of room to grow from here for MacDonald’s squad, which hasn’t been together for very long.
“We’ve only played about 15 games together this year,” he said. “So every game it seems we’re getting stronger.”
P.E.I. will take on Quebec’s Rob MacLean, who also sits at 4-2, in Wednesday’s 10 a.m. draw.
jpsports@journalpioneer.com
