BURLINGTON, Ont. - Ontario's Mark Bice routed New Brunswick's Mary Jane McGuire 7-2 to run his record to 8-1 Wednesday at the Canadian mixed curling championship.
With the Draw 13 victory, Bice, lead Courtney Davies, second Codey Maus and third Leslie Bishop are two wins clear of second-place Mark Dacey of Nova Scotia atop the overall standings. The Sarnia, Ont., foursome concludes its round robin with matches Thursday against Alberta's Graham Powell (5-3) and Dacey, who sits at 6-2.
A win against either team would move Bice into the playoffs.
The Ontario rink controlled the game from the outset, scoring two points with the hammer in the second end and adding two more in the fourth. Steals in the fifth and eighth ends put away the New Brunswick rink, which now sits at 4-5.
Dacey retained his grip on second place with a convincing 7-1 victory over Quebec's Simon Hebert. Dacey, lead Jill Mouzar, second Andrew Gibson and third Heather Smith-Dacey took control against Hebert (2-7) by stealing four points over the final three ends.
Manitoba's Dave Boehmer (5-3) kept his playoff hopes alive with a 7-4 victory over Kyle Stevenson of P.E.I. (5-4). Boehmer is tied for third place with Powell and B.C.'s Jason Montgomery, who were both idle Wednesday night.
The top team in the round robin will earn an automatic bye to Sunday's final, with the second-and third-place teams facing off in a semifinal on Saturday.
