Homan remains cool, calm and collected
Ottawa rink ‘very focused’ in capturing second Autumn Gold Classic in 3 years
There’s no truth to the rumour that Rachel Homan has ice in her veins.
“Very focused, for sure,” chuckled Homan. “You have to be for shots like that. My teammates know what to say and everything.”
Homan, the picture of cool under pressure that has become her trademark, posted her second Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Classic title in three years, defeating Nina Roth of Blaine, Minn., 6-4 in the final Sunday afternoon at the Calgary Curling Club.
“It was a really well-played game by both teams, a really strong performance,” said the 28-year-old Homan, in praise of her counterpart. “Had to make some really tough shots at both ends and really well executed so it was great.”
The Ottawa skip’s $13,500-winning foursome includes third Emma Miskew (who made some dandy shots herself ), second Joanne Courtney and lead Lisa Weagle. Roth, who pocketed $9,500, was ably aided by third Tabitha Peterson, second Aileen Geving and lead Becca Hamilton.
Homan, as cool as a pumpkin (ode to Thanksgiving there) got the game off with a steal in the first end, taking advantage of a miscue by Roth. But the Wisconsin native curling out of Minnesota notched that and more in the second, making good on a raise-take-out for a pair. The Ottawa skip got that one back in the next end.
Back at square one in end No. 4, a whole mess of rocks greeted Homan with her last shot and she threw a peerless draw which elicited applause from the fans in attendance. That left Roth, 29, with what would have to be a perfect hammer throw, with no room for error, but alas it wasn’t and Homan came away with the steal.
That, according to Homan, may have been the turning point in the match.
“Maybe that steal that we got coming home,” she noted, checking out the scoreboard. “We got a steal and that gave us a little control. The two (in the seventh) was big, too.”
Not done with her devious thieving ways, the defending world champ took yet another from the frustrated Roth and it was 4-2 heading into the sixth.
Roth — whose rink finished fifth in last spring’s world championships and takes part in the U.S. Olympic trials in November — did tie it up in the sixth, but Homan didn’t make too many mistakes with last rock with yet another deuce and chances were good that that would stick as the winning tally. It did.
Both rinks made it to the final with a 7-1 record.
Homan had some strong performances after losing to Calgary’s Chelsea Carey on the A side. On Monday, she defeated 2014 Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg 9-6 and followed that up with revenge on Carey in the championship semifinal, taking a 6-4 decision.
Roth, meanwhile, reeled off six straight wins after her one loss to Lethbridge’s Casey Scheidegger, the defending Autumn Gold champ, including some onesided scores: 6-0 over Winnipeg’s Darcy Robertson, 9-0 in a rematch against Scheidegger and 8-3 over Robertson in the semifinal.