A provincial junior women’s curling championship just wasn’t in the cards for Moose Jaw’s Skylar Ackerman and the Emily Haupstein rink.
Haupstein, third Ackerman, second Taylor Stremick and lead Abbey Johnson dropped an 8-7 decision to Saskatoon’s Cara Kesslering in the C-side final on Friday evening in Martensville, and as a result, were eliminated from the competition.
Things got off to a solid start for the Saskatoon-based foursome, as they took a 10-3 win over Wadena’s Kaydence Lalonde in their opening game on Wednesday night, but they’d drop their next contest 9-5 to eventual A-side winner Madison Kleiter of Saskatoon to fall to the B-side.
There, Haupstein hammered out a 12-0 five-end win over Kesslering -- scoring three in the first end, stealing three in the second, two in the third and three more in the fourth along the way -- before dropping a 7-4 decision to Regina’s Elizabeth Kessel in the B-semifinal. Kessel did almost all her damage with a four-spot in the sixth end and steal in the seventh, with Haupstein unable to recover from there.
That loss dropped Haupstein straight into one of the C-qualifiers and a second meeting with Kesslering.
Things were far different than their first meeting, as Haupstein held a 4-3 lead through five ends, and after a Kesslering deuce in the sixth and Haupstein single in the seventh, things were all tied up heading into the final ends.
Haupstein was able to hold Kesslering to a single point in the eighth before tacking on a deuce in the ninth to lead 7-6 heading into the 10th. But then, heartbreak: Kesslering made an impressive angle raise for two with her final shot, taking the one-point win.
Be sure to check out www.saskcurl.ca for the latest from the rest of the junior women’s provincial championship.
