Kaufman earns her spot in Scotties final
Meets winner of Nedohin-webster semifinal; Calgary’s Kleibrink, Bernard eliminated
Jessie Kaufman had every reason in the world to lose on Saturday night.
In leading her team out of the A Event at the Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women’s curling championship, Kaufman and her team had a day and a half to sit idle. Meanwhile, more experienced teams, like Heather Nedohi, her eventual opponent, stayed in rhythm and continued to win.
alberta women’s championship
On top of that, Kaufman is just 23 and skipping in only her second provincial tournament. Playing in the biggest game of her career and the event thus far, nerves figured to play a factor. Going up against a vet like Nedohin, the odds — at least in theory — were against the younger rink.
After a convincing 6-3 win on Saturday night, Kaufman bucked theory and inexperience while landing her team — lead Stephanie Enright, second Amanda-dawn Coderre and third Nicky Kaufman — just a win away from representing Alberta at next month’s national championship in Red Deer.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now,” said an elated Kaufman, who plays out of Edmonton’s Saville Centre. “This feels amazing.”
Before she felt amazing, Kaufman was surprised by Nedohin’s approach to start the game. The two teams blanked the first two ends before Kaufman settled in and pulled off a three-ender in the third.
“I figured it would be right off the hop (that) she would go for it,” Kaufman said. “Honestly, it was nice. If there was any anxiety at all between (the team) we definitely got it out in the first couple of ends with good hits and throwing clean and getting used to being out here again.”
Throughout the week, Kaufman has lauded her team’s sports psychologist, Desi Mcewan, the 25-yearold son of Team Kaufman coach Lesley Mcewan. Kaufman said that he helped calm the group down on Friday when they had the day off.
“I have to admit (Friday) morning when I woke up and realized that we were in this spot and we still had a day and a half to wait, I was get- ting a little antsy, a little nervous,” she said. “Working with our sports psych (Friday) and (Saturday) really calmed us down and we were ready to play.”
Kaufman gets to sit and watch on Sunday morning while her opponent is determined. Nedohin, another Saville Centre product, will face Calgary’s Crystal Webster at 9:30 a.m., with the winner of that game advancing to the final.
Kaufman said it didn’t matter if it was Round 3 of her team versus Nedohin again, or if it’s Webster who comes through in the afternoon.
“Doesn’t matter. The rocks don’t know who’s throwing them,” she said.
Webster has played her way into the semifinal in coming out of the C Event.
Webster’s team, consisting of Erin Carmody, Geri-lynn Ramsay and Samantha Preston, has won four games in a row.
“I think with this field and the fact that we’re on the ice and we’re getting our two games a day ... I feel like we’re getting more and more confident and better and better,” Webster said. “That can only help us in the end.” Bernard, Kleibrink fall short Two legendary Calgary curlers were knocked out of the Alberta Scotties on Saturday afternoon. Defending provincial champ Shannon Kleibrink and Cheryl Bernard fell to Sweeting and Webster, respectively, opening the door for a new champion and some fresh blood in the final.
“Some years you come in and you win and some years you’re last,” Kleibrink said. “It’s such a great field, so there isn’t anything to being the defending champion in Alberta, unfortunately.”
“Disappointing,” is how Bernard described her team’s elimination from the provincial championship. “It wasn’t our A-game, that’s for sure, definitely wasn’t mine.
“It’s been a good week so far, but just a little up and down on different spots on different games. We weren’t ever consistent, the four of us, and I think you have to be here.”
Sweeting put second-ranked Bernard down in seven ends, 10-4, while Webster held on to top the topranked Kleibrink 9-7 in 10 ends.
While both Bernard and Kleibrink were gracious in defeat, the losses resonated for them. Both have been the face of Alberta women’s curling for the last decade, with Bernard representing Canada in the 2006 Olympics and Kleibrink assuming the role in 2010 in Vancouver. Both have combined to win four of the last five provincial titles and have appeared in eight of the last nine provincial finals. coleary@edmontonjournal.com Twitter.com/olearychris” “There’s not much to gain, just go back to the drawing board and we’ll work a little harder this summer and we’ll come back next year and get our (Olympic) Trials spot,” Bernard said.
Kleibrink’s match was much closer and the defending champion — along with third Amy Nixon, second Carolyn Darbyshire and lead Chelsey Matson — went out fighting on Saturday.
Webster’s three-ender in the sixth made it a 7-4 game, but Kleibrink pulled back into the game, forcing it to 10 ends.
“We did (fight), for sure,” Kleibrink said.
“We got behind on a bad mistake on one of mine in the (sixth). It gave them an easy three (that came) on a measure by one tick. It just wasn’t rolling our way.”
“You never want to give it up,” Bernard said of her string of success over the years. “But you still want to play to the level that you deserve to be there.”
Kleibrink couldn’t pick between the four remaining rinks in play.
“It’s a toss-up, we said that before we came here,” she said.
“We thought there were five or six teams that were absolutely even and it could be anybody’s game.
“Two of them are out now, so it could be any one of those four that are left.
“They’re all great teams,” Kleibrink said.