Homan beats Carey and Koe edges McEwen
OTTAWA — A semifinal curling 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 Earle Morris, ex-coach for Team Homan.
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 into 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-andforth 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 victories 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.”
The win caps an incredible calendar year for Homan. After taking the Ontario playdowns, she won her third national title, picked up her first world championship and is now heading to the Games for the first time.
“It gave us a lot of confidence coming into today,” Weagle said.
Tears of joy ran down their cheeks as the team members were presented with Team Canada jackets and medals.
“I should stop crying some time in the next week or so,” Courtney said.
In the men’s final, the teams exchanged singles before McEwen came through in the fourth end with a brilliant double takeout for two.
Koe responded with a deuce of his own after McEwen second Matt Wozniak missed a runback. McEwen gave up a steal in the sixth end when he was a tad heavy with a tap, but tied the game 5-5 in the seventh with a hit for a pair.
McEwen put his last stone in the eighth at the top of the four-foot ring but Koe drew in behind it for a single that was confirmed with a measure.
This will be the first Olympic appearance for Koe and second Brent Laing. Lead Ben Hebert and third Marc Kennedy won Olympic gold in 2010 with skip Kevin Martin.
Koe earned a berth in the final by taking first place in round-robin play with a 7-1 record. McEwen, Wozniak, lead Denni Neufeld and third B.J. Neufeld beat Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., in the semifinal to advance.
Homan’s team won its first Scotties Tournament of Hearts crown in 2013 with Alison Kreviazuk at second. The rink took bronze at the world championship that year.
Kreviazuk left the team the next year to move to Sweden. Courtney — one of the best sweepers in the women’s game — came on as her replacement.
Adam Kingsbury came aboard as coach two years ago and strengthened their mental game. The team is embracing the big moments and Homan has become even sharper as a skip.
“She’s absolutely fearless,” Morris said. “She embraces the opportunities that are given. I think great athletes embrace the opportunities for greatness and that’s what she does.”