Homan seeking global gold

Scotties title gives rink their third shot

After conquering Canada for the third time in dramatic fashion, Rachel Homan and her robust Ontario rink have their sights set on yet more gold.

Homan’s foursome next competes at the worlds, March 18 to 26 in Beijing. Homan’s team from the Ottawa Curling Club won silver in 2014 and bronze in 2013.

On Sunday night at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, Ont., Team Ontario overcame two lost leads in posting an extra-end, 8-6 victory over Michelle Englot and Team Manitoba in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts gold-medal game.

Being the world’s topranked women’s curling team is one thing for Homan, third Emma Miskew, second Joanne Courtney and lead Lisa Weagle. But having medal-winning experience on the world championship stage will help them most in Beijing.

“It’s different,” Homan said of the worlds late Sunday night. “It’s a different crowd, different venue, a little bit different ice. And so our experiences there will help us perform to our best.

“We’re representing Canada. It’s just a surreal feeling, and I can’t wait to put the Maple Leaf on.”

In defeating Manitoba for the first time in three attempts at this year’s Scotties, Homan seemingly made every type of difficult shot there is: a whistling, cross-sheet, double takeout for three, another double to briefly sit four, a delicate freeze to the button to sit shot stone, a game-saving double at the back of the house with the penultimate throw in the 10th end to force an 11th, and finally — at the conclusion — a long runback to dispatch Englot’s buried shot stone, and sit for victory.

Homan wasn’t perfect on the night. No player was, or would expect to be, when two such teams of proven, unflappable shotmakers go at it. Indeed, the skips crashed into the odd guard, and misjudged line or weight on a few draws.

As in all sports, however, the head-shaking misses only heighten the drama and make us appreciate all the more the jaw-dropping makes.

For instance, Englot and her team of third Kate Cameron, second Leslie Wilson and lead Raunora Scott continued their inexplicable, late-game affinity for scrounging points from unpromising ends with the hammer, and stealing points without it. That’s in part how they lost only one of 12 games before Sunday, and turned a 3-1 deficit after two ends on Sunday into a 4-3 lead entering the eighth.

Ontario lost a second lead (6-4) in the 10th, but still pulled out victory in the 11th.

Homan was asked if she and her rink ever had to make so many unlikely shots to win a big game.