Middaugh makes Roar final
WINNIPEG — The reigning Scotties champion, Rachel Homan, lost the last-rock advantage on the pre-game draws to the button — and that was pretty much the highlight of her night.
At least there were no numbers on the scoreboard yet.
Once the game was on, they began to proliferate — and not in a good way.
One in the first end, three in the third, two in the fifth, three more in the sixth. Sherry Middaugh, of all people, the 47-year-old campaigner from Coldwater, Ont., whose high-water mark in a 37-year curling life had been a victory in the 2003 Canada Cup didn’t stop pouring it on Friday evening until she had run Homan and her young national-champion teammates from Ottawa right out of the MTS Centre.
By the time they shook hands after eight ends, with the score 10-4, Middaugh had long since booked her ticket to Saturday night’s final of the Olympic curling trials and another shot at Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones rink, with a trip to Sochi on the line.
Middaugh had played a tiebreaker just a few hours earlier, beating Winnipeg’s Chelsea Carey 6-3, but said at the time she thought it might turn out to be an advantage and it was.
“Even though it sounds terrible to be playing backto-back games ... you often hear curlers say if we knew we would win it, we’d love to have that extra game and it certainly made a big difference,” Middaugh said.
“There was just time to grab something to eat, put the feet up and start stretching again” — and not spend too much time thinking about what was to come.
Homan had the rest, but came out cold — and stayed that way. Her team’s shooting percentages for the second, third and skip were 72, 61 and 70.
“We felt good going in (to the event) and got quite a few unlucky breaks, but we didn’t make too many either,” said the 24-year-old personal trainer, whose team finished the week 4-4, including the playoff.
“I think after the runback for a steal of three (in the sixth end), that was pretty brutal. I threw it exactly how I wanted to. ... I didn’t even think we could do that. I thought at worst we’d take one. I don’t know how (her shot rock) ended up squirting out, but it did.
“It just wasn’t our night. You’ve just got to sum it up like that.”
For Middaugh, it was a sweet moment in a career that has lacked a lot of meaningful hardware, though she has three bronze-medal finishes in six Scotties appearances. This is her fourth Olympic trials.