Canada’s curlers for Winter Olympics now decided

Homan beats Carey, Koe edges McEwen to book tickets to Pyeongchang Games

OTTAWA — A semifinal loss at the 2013 Olympic Trials left the members of Team Homan crushed. It may have been the best thing that ever happened to them.

Skip Rachel Homan and her teammates made some changes for this quadrennial. Their efforts paid off Sunday when they booked their Olympic ticket with a 6-5 win over Chelsea Carey in the final of the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings.

“You really have to lose before you win because you sometimes don’t know how to win,” said former Team Homan coach Earle Morris.

Later in the evening, Calgary’s Kevin Koe earned the men’s Olympic berth with a 7-6 victory over Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen.

Sherry Middaugh beat Homan four years ago in Winnipeg before falling to Jennifer Jones, who went on to win gold at the Sochi Games.

This time around, Jones was dispatched by Homan in the semifinals. The Ottawa skip then topped Carey for the title in front of a boisterous home crowd.

“We just kept getting better and better as the week went on,” Homan said.

Carey was down two with hammer in the 10th end. Her double takeout attempt only cleared one of Homan’s stones and the celebration was on at Canadian Tire Centre.

Homan and third Emma Miskew jumped in each other’s arms and were quickly joined by lead Lisa Weagle and second Joanne Courtney.

“(To win) in our hometown, we couldn’t have written a better story,” Homan said. “We can’t wait to represent Canada in Pyeongchang.”

The men’s final was a back-and-forth battle that also went the distance.

Koe forced McEwen to a single in the ninth to get hammer coming home. In the 10th end, McEwen had one stone biting the top of the four-foot and one at the back. Koe’s teammates put everything they had into the brush and Koe got the winning single.

Homan’s lone loss in round-robin play was to Carey, who posted eight straight wins to get to the final.

Homan was aggressive at times and kept the mistakes to a minimum. Carey made some errors, including a missed peel in the first end that gave Homan an early lead.

A second steal followed and the crowd was eating it up. The momentum had shifted to Homan and she controlled the game the rest of the way.

“That game was won on inches here and there,” Homan said. “I’m just really proud of my team for sticking with it and battling through.”

Homan’s win means Winnipeg’s Michelle Englot will replace her as Team Canada at the Jan. 27-Feb. 4 Scotties in Penticton.