OTTAWA — Jennifer Jones has a simple solution for how her team will turn things around after a third straight loss at Canada’s Olympic trials.
“Playoffs,” the veteran Winnipeg-born skip said, grinning. “That’s what it’s all about.”
It is. And after eight games in seven days for each of the teams vying to represent Canada at the Olympics next year in South Korea, the action heats up Saturday. That’s when Team Jones (5-3) and the hometown favourites skipped by Ottawa-born Rachel Homan (7-1) will meet in the afternoon’s semi-final, with the winner advancing to Sunday’s final against the undefeated Team Carey, and an Olympic berth on the line.
Rachel Homan, the defending world champion, and Jones, the defending Olympic champ, come into that decisive match trending in opposite directions. Team Homan has won their last seven games, while Team Jones is riding a three-game losing streak.
On Friday night, the two teams met in a semi-final preview, in what was a pretty meaningless tilt since both had their semi-final berths locked up, but with the winner getting the hammer on Saturday. And aside from one strong end from Jones, it was all Homan.
The 28-year-old skip pulled off a beauty to score a deuce in the opening end. With one rock sitting just outside the house, she bumped it in with her final rock and managed to score both. Third Emma Miskew threw a hand up to indicate it was good, and the crowd went berserk. It was quite the start for the hometown favourites. “Hearing the whole roar of the building is unbelievable,” Homan said, afterward.
Jones’ attempt to draw the button went long in the fourth end, and Homan stole a pair to go up 5-1. As she watched her rock sail out of the house, Jones lightly smacked her broom against the blue floor.
But in the sixth, the 43-year-old made a game of it. Homan left the Winnipeg rink sitting two after a failed takeout, and Jones slid in her final shot to score three and narrow Homan’s lead to one.
A fan on the upper deck yelled: “Nice job, Jennifer!” and the veteran skip looked up and smiled.
But Homan answered right back, drawing the button to score another pair in the seventh, taking a 7-4 lead. The “Let’s go Ho-man!” cheers started up again, and the building roared when Homan stole another two in the eighth end. That made it 9-4, and the handshakes came after that.
Jones repeated what she’s been saying after each of her losses here, that the team needs to be sharper, and that it will be when it counts. “We have to go back to making the big shots at the big moments,” she said, “and I think we’re gonna do that.”
For Team Homan, they’ll just try to keep doing what they’ve been doing. Homan curled at 84 per cent on Friday, compared to Jones’ 64 per cent. “Our team’s playing phenomenal and really gelling together on the ice and loving the conditions and loving where we’re at right now,” Homan said.
How could they not? But nobody’s reading too much into this Friday game, which meant little. Because if anyone can come up with a big performance when it counts, it’s Jones, the five-time Scotties champ whose rink cruised to Olympic gold undefeated four years ago.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow, I’m excited to play—just love to play in these big games, in these big moments,” Jones said, grinning. “It’s Olympic trials semi-final, who doesn’t wanna be there?”
Homan’s eyebrows rose when asked whether she has Jones’ number. Said the Ottawa-born skip: “I don’t think anybody ever has Jennifer’s number.”
The reigning world champions sure looked like they did Friday. But, as Jones points out, “it’s a new day tomorrow.”
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