Einarson wins Scotties in extra end
Gimli foursome survives costly late miss to score one in an extra end and win final
After years of knocking at the door, Kerri Einarson and Val Sweeting combined forces to kick it down and become Canadian women’s curling champions.
Einarson was playing in her second Scotties Tournament of Hearts final on Sunday night at Mosaic Place, while her viceskip, Sweeting, was playing in her third final.
There had been nothing but heartbreak in the past, but on this night, Einarson, Sweeting and teammates Shannon Birchard and Briane Meilleur were simply not to be denied.
The Manitoba foursome out of Gimli, population 2,246, survived a costly late miss to score one in an extra end and win 8-7 over three-time champion Rachel Homan of Ontario.
After missing a draw to the four-foot and giving up a steal of two in the 10th end, tying the game at 7-7, Einarson had to try a similar shot in the extra end but made it this time, touching off a wild celebration.
Einarson, 32, Sweeting 32, Birchard, 25, and Meilleur, 27, will represent Canada at the women’s world curling championship in Prince George, B.C., March 14-22.
Homan, who beat Team Wild Card’s Jennifer Jones 8-3 in the Sunday morning semi, lost the final for the second straight year after falling to Chelsea Carey of Alberta in 2019 in Sydney, N.S.
Einarson and her teammates took home the top prize of $105,000, while Homan’s team earned $65,000 and Jones earned $45,000.
Einarson made it to the final of the 2018 Scotties as Team
Wild Card but lost the final to Jones.
She rebuilt her entire foursome after that, combining with three fellow skips to form a super team.
The team included Sweeting, who lost the 2014 and 2015 Scotties finals while skipping a team out of Alberta. Sweeting and teammate Brad Gushue also lost the 2018 mixed doubles Olympic curling trials final.
The new team had a solid 2018-19 season but lost its two most important games — the Manitoba final (to Tracy Fleury) and the Scotties wild card game (to Casey Scheidegger).
Team Einarson rebounded very nicely this year, winning three events on the cash tour, taking down Jones in the Manitoba final and going 9-2 in the round robin at the Scotties before beating Jones again in the 1 vs. 2 game on Saturday night.
It seems fitting a team from Manitoba won the women’s championship this year given that Fleury, Einarson and Jones were ranked 1, 2, 3 in Canada and No. 2, 3 and 5 in the world prior to the start of the Scotties.
Einarson had the hammer in the first end of Sunday’s final but she was not able to take advantage, as Sweeting was heavy with a key draw and that allowed Homan to get a force.
However, Einarson made up for that in the second, making a terrific draw to the four-foot, behind cover, with her last rock and forcing Homan to try an angle runback for a deuce. Her attempt was off the mark and Einarson stole one to go up 2-0.
Homan was forced to hit and stick for one and relinquish the hammer in the third and Einarson took advantage, making a touch draw to the four-foot for two in the fourth after Homan’s double attempt jammed.
In the fifth, Einarson’s team put the pressure on again and was lying four when Homan got in the hack to throw her last rock. Homan showed her nerves of steel again and made a touch draw to the four-foot for a single point.
Einarson showed her own immense skill and ability to perform in the clutch with her last rock in the sixth to get a huge deuce. Already lying one, Einarson needed to make a perfect side bump of a rock near the button to score two. Her line and weight were perfect and she nailed it to take a 6-2 lead.
At that point Einarson was curling 92 per cent, an impressive number considering she curled 95 per cent in Saturday’s 1 vs. 2 game.
Her team kept it up in the seventh, putting so much pressure on Homan that the Ontario skip as forced to try a huge-weight shot to move as much granite as she possible could and possibly get multiple points. She took out two of her own rocks and three Manitoba stones, but when everything settled, it was only good for one point.
Einarson looked a little shaky on her first shot of the eighth end and didn’t get her rock in a good position, which allowed Homan to hit and lie two. But Einarson looked better on a draw to the eight-foot with last rock and scored a single point to lead 7-3.