With the way things went for Moose Jaw’s Skylar Ackerman heading into the Viterra Scotties provincial women’s curling championship, it stood to reason the Saskatoon Nutana foursome would get off to a decent start when things kicked off Wednesday in Tisdale.
And that’s exactly what’s happened.
Ackerman and her rin of third Ashley Thevenot, second Taylor Stremick and lead Kaylin Skinner are 2-0 through their first two games after taking a 7-4 victory over Regina Highland’s Michelle Englot and a 7-4 win over Balgonie’s Mandy Selzer.
Ackerman enters the event as the second-ranked rink in the province on the Canadian Curling Team Ranking System and bolstered her status as one of the pre-tournament favourites by winning the SCT Players Championship in the final event before the Scotties.
The contest against Englot was back-and-forth in the early going, with Ackerman holding a 3-2 lead through five ends, but a steal of two in the seventh and another steal in the eighth would give Ackerman control heading home.
Ackerman was on the other end of a series of steals against Selzer, as leading 4-1 through four, she’d give up points in three straight ends to find things tied 4-4. A three spot in the eighth restored a comfortable lead, though, and Ackerman would go on to the three-point win.
Former Viterra Scotties champions Penny Barker and Amber Holland are both 1-1 after their first two games.
Barker and her Moose Jaw Curling Centre rink of third Christie Gamble, second Jenna Enge and lead Danielle Sicinski cruised to a 10-5 win over Saskatoon Nutana’s Sherry Anderson in their first game, but dropped a 7-6 decision to Holland on Thursday morning.
The game against Anderson was as back-and-forth as they come early, with three in the third end giving Barker a 5-4 lead through four. The local foursome would get on a roll from there, though, with a deuce in the fifth, single point in the sixth and another deuce in the seventh making it a 10-4 contest, and the teams would shake hands after eight ends.
Holland and her Kronau rink of third Kim Schneider, second Jill Springer and lead Deb Lozinski needed an extra end to pick up their win over Barker. The 2022 Viterra Scotties champions had scored one in the 10th to tie the game, but Holland put the hammer to good use in the extra to secure the win.
Sherilee Orsted and her Moose Jaw foursome of third Candace Newkirk, second Shalon Fleming and lead Jasmine Kerr gave pre-tournament favourte Nancy Martin from Martensville all she could handle in their opener before falling 7-6.
The teams were tied 3-3 through five ends, but a three-spot in the sixth would give Martin control. A steal in the eighth made it a 7-3 game, but Orsted make things interesting with a deuce in the ninth before stealing one in the seventh and losing by a single point.
Each team plays five round robin games through Saturday morning, with the top three teams advancing to the Page Playoffs and the championship final set for Sunday afternoon.
The Viterra Scotties champion advances to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary beginning Feb. 16.
