Homan rocks Manitoba, off to final
MONTREAL — Rachel Homan’s Canada team scored one in the 10th end to down Manitoba’s Chelsea Carey 5-4 in the first-versus-second playoff game at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Friday night.
The unbeaten Ottawabased Homan squad, looking to defend the title they won last year in Kingston, Ont., advanced to the final on Sunday night at the Maurice Richard Arena.
Carey will play in the semifinal against the winner of the third-versusfourth game Saturday between Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton and Alberta’s Val Sweeting.
Homan started with a bang, scoring three in the second end with a double takeout after Carey’s first stone drifted left and nicked a guard.
She threw another double in the fourth to force Carey to draw for one.
But Carey responded with a clever takeout that led to a steal of one in the fifth. Then a perfect draw into a crowded house produced another steal to tie it at 3-3 in the sixth when Homan’s bid for a triple takeout couldn’t dislodge the shot stone.
Homan finally drew for one in the seventh and handed the hammer back to Carey, which she used to take one in the eighth.
After blanking the ninth, Homan watched Carey crash on a guard on her final stone to hand her the victory.
The Canada team opened the Scotties with an 8-3 win over Manitoba and ended the round-robin on Friday morning with an 11-0 record after a 7-3 win over New Brunswick’s Andrea Crawford. Homan’s side outscored its opponent 9443 in round-robin play and went to a 10th end only once against Saskatchewan.
Carey was 9-2 after beating P.E.I.’s Kim Dolan 6-4.
Homan’s rink, which defeated Canadian Olympic team skip Jennifer Jones in last year’s final, is looking to become the first to go through the Scotties undefeated since Linda Moore in 1985.
Lawton ended the roundrobin on a downer — watching her last rock hit and roll just out of the rings to give Yukon’s Sarah Koltun a steal for a 6-5 win.
“We didn’t quite finish it off,” Lawton said. “Just a bad shot by myself, otherwise we would have won.
“In the end, it doesn’t make a difference for us. It would have been nice to finish that game off, but we’ll rest up and get ready for the playoffs.”
Koltun was a crowd favourite all week and the 2,061 spectators gave her a long ovation after her upset win. The 20-year-old from Whitehorse is the first player ever to skip at the Canadian junior championships and the Scotties in the same year.
“It’s been really cool,” said Koltun. “It’s so much bigger.
“You feel like superstars here, where at juniors you’re just another team. The crowd loved us and we loved them. It’s been incredible.”