ST. CATHARINES, Ont. — If you play a team three times in a tournament and only defeat them once, you better make sure it’s in the game that matters the most.
Such was the case for Rachel Homan and Team Ontario as they finally figured out the right formula to solve Manitoba’s Michelle Englot and win 8-6 in an instant classic Scotties Tournament of Hearts final that came down to the wire in an extra end Sunday at the Meridian Centre.
Englot stymied Homan twice earlier in the Canadian women’s curling championship with a 9-5 victory Thursday to conclude round-robin play and again the following evening 9-8 in the Page 1 vs. 2 playoff to reach the final.
Homan captured her third Scotties title with third Emma Miskew and lead Lisa Weagle while it was a first for second Joanne Courtney, who joined the team ahead of the 2014-15 season.
“That’s an unbelievable win by my team,” Homan said. “That’s the hardest win we’ve ever fought for, I think, especially with all of the pressure and everything on the line. We gave it everything we had and it was just enough.”
Homan didn’t have the hammer to start in all three games and had to find a way to outduel Englot early in order to eliminate the advantage. The now three-time Canadian champion did just that capitalizing in the second end with a spectacular double takeout to score three and take control with a 3-1 lead.
Englot’s team was rock solid all week getting to the final and proved as such as they chipped away at the deficit and pulled back ahead in the seventh. Homan looked to make a tricky shot through a narrow port and score a handful that would have made it game over, man, but came crashing down on one of the guards to give up a steal.
It was back to the drawing board and Homan continued the see-saw affair taking two in the eighth and stealing one in nine to go up by two points without the hammer coming home.
A couple mistakes by Ontario had Manitoba sitting three late and an opportunity to not just tie it but secure the win right there and then. Homan bailed her team out with yet another game-saving double to limit the damage and force the extra end.
Miskew said the team definitely took some time to catch their breath after that shot.
“Luckily we get three minutes between ends so we definitely all focused on our breathing,” she said. “But if she doesn’t make that shot the game’s over. It was one off shot on mine in the 10th and Jo missing her peel and all of sudden it turns around really fast.
“We really had to stick with it and Rachel made a game-saver and I love her throwing that because she’s made it so many times like in the Hot Shots and against them in the 1-2 game. It was the exact same line. She’s obviously an amazing hitter and she saved us.”
Obviously OT wasn’t going to be easy against a team like Manitoba and Homan had to execute a tough runback with the last rock of the game and pulled it off beautifully.
“I was confident. Obviously the nerves and your adrenaline is pumping like crazy,” Homan said. “I think it was almost worse for the 10th end shot. Everything was on the line and I had to hit a 16th of it and we made it. It was a perfectly swept, perfectly line called. It was a battle by my team, absolutely. We needed every inch.”
1st End: Homan heading to the worlds
Team Homan barely had any time to soak up the Scotties victory when they were already asked about the next step: representing Canada next month at the world championship in Beijing, China.
“I can’t believe everything now. We’re representing Canada,” Homan said. “It’s just a surreal feeling and I just can’t wait to put the Maple Leaf on.”
Homan is on a quest for gold having scored bronze in 2013 and silver in 2014 in her previous two trips. Canada will be in tough though with a field featuring the likes of Scotland’s Eve Muirhead, Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg, Switzerland’s Alina Paetz and more.
Having gone through the tough Scotties Tournament of Hearts field and emerged victorious should be enough of a proving ground to prepare them for the next stage though.
2nd End: Not just settling for silver
Englot remained focused on the top prize at the end of the day with her team eyeing a berth to the Olympic Trials to determine the Canadian rep for the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
“We just want to keep building so our ultimate goal is the Olympic Trials and this should get us a spot directly into the Trials and we’re super excited about that,” Englot said. “We’ll regroup as a team and see how we can get better.”
Englot said it was an incredible run for the team as she looked back at the whole week, finishing with an overall 11-2 record, and even their rebound in the final.
“We gave up the three early but we battled back and this team is just so amazing that they never give up,” Englot said. “We’re going to be a force next year.”
She’s right about that and you have to bet we’ll be seeing more Homan vs. Englot matches for championships in the near future.
3rd End: Carey claims bronze
Chelsea Carey has played in three Scotties Tournament of Hearts wearing three different jackets. She’s also made it onto the podium in all three national championships.
Earning bronze in 2014 with Manitoba and taking gold a year ago for Alberta, Carey captured another bronze Sunday with a 7-4 win over Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville.
If Carey returns to the Scotties — presumably back in Alberta colours and not with yet another team — it’ll be without third Amy Nixon, who stepped back from competitive curling immediately after the win. What better way to walk away than with the Maple Leaf on her back and on the podium?
Like in Homan’s situation, Carey also faced a team she had lost to twice previously in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, including a crushing 8-1 rout in the Page 3 vs. 4 playoff as she struggled with draw weight giving up seven stolen points over four consecutive ends to ensure there would be a new champion.
Carey took control after the break scoring three for the lead in six and stealing two in seven to go up 6-2. From there she needed to remain steady, not let the game slip away and she did just that.
4th End: Fear the moose
While McCarville finished off of the podium, it was another solid run for the Northern Ontario team following last year’s silver medal finish.
They definitely had a small but vocal section of fans cheering them on as they were often the loudest throughout the week providing plenty of banter and Moose calls. It wasn’t a distraction for McCarville’s team as they were often seen laughing with (or at) their friends and family.
“People have been asking if it’s a distraction, it’s actually a lot of fun,” McCarville said Thursday. “It keeps us maybe loose out there because we’re laughing and joking around because I think they’re probably making fools of themselves sometimes but they’re having fun and it’s fun for us.”
5th End: Galusha goes home happy
Everyone loves a good underdog story and there was no better example than Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories. After missing out on the main event the past two years, Galusha was crying tears of joy this time as her team made it through the pre-qualifier round.
With the relegation round eliminated for future Scotties events, Galusha almost had nothing to lose from that point onward knowing that finishing last wouldn’t set her team back. Who would have guessed they would jumped out to a 3-1 record and be in playoff contention though.
Galusha’s run ended Friday with a 5-6 record, although you have to throw in their pre-qualifier record of 3-1 to see the whole picture. Playing 15 games is something some teams from the north do over the course of the season, never mind condensed into a week and a half and those eight wins are a new career-high for Galusha at the Scotties.
6th End: Nedohin makes unpredictable return to Scotties
If there was a “fifth player of the year” award at the Scotties, it would have to go to Heather Nedohin.
The two-time Canadian champion from Edmonton was hesitant to use the word “retired” when she stepped back from competitive curling in 2015. There was always a possibility we hadn’t see the last of her.
Who knew not only would we see Nedohin back on the ice, but also at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts? Nedohin alternated for Team Alberta with skip Shannon Kleibrink, who was still nursing an injured back that she also played through during provincials.
Nedohin helped keep Alberta in the playoff hunt almost until the end. Alberta finished tied for sixth place in the standings with a 5-6 record with just a couple of bad breaks spoiling their week.
7th End: Emotions run high for Quebec
Quebec’s Eve Belisle was in the playoff race right up to the final preliminary game. Her team finished a draw earlier with a 7-4 record and needed a Northern Ontario loss Friday morning to force a tiebreaker.
That didn’t happen — McCarville defeated Galusha to finish at 8-3 — and Belisle was eliminated.
It was an especially emotional week for Quebec’s third Lauren Mann. Just over a year ago, Mann was skipping her own squad in provincials when she had to leave the tournament as her brother Adam passed away. Adam’s heart was donated and the recipient coincidentally lives in St. Catharines.
8th End: World juniors wrap-up
Sweden’s Isabella Wrana is your new world junior women’s champion
Wrana topped Scotland’s Sophie Jackson 10-7 during Saturday’s final in PyeongChang, South Korea.
It’s been quite the season for the Wrana family with Isabella’s older brother Rasmus joining Team Edin on the men’s tour this season and winning titles in his first couple Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events.
Isabella now has a chance to join her brother in the big leagues as the junior title earned her team a berth in the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup.
Canada’s Kristen Streifel took the bronze with a 6-3 win over Min Ji Kim of South Korea.
Ki Jeong Lee of South Korea clipped American Andrew Stopera 5-4 for the junior men’s title and Norway’s Magnus Ramsfjell thumped Scotland’s Cameron Bryce 10-3 for bronze.
Canada’s Tyler Tardi just missed the playoffs falling to Ramsfjell 8-7 in a tiebreaker.
Extra End: Brier bound
With the Canadian women’s national championship complete, it’s now time for the boys to come out and play for the Tim Hortons Brier.
The pre-qualifier round kicks things off Thursday at the Mile One Centre in St. John’s, N.L. Keep it here later this week as we’ll preview the stacked field set to square off.