Nova Scotia’s Mary-Anne Arsenault saw to it that would be the case after taking a 10-4 win over B.C.’s Corryn Brown during Draw 13 at Mosaic Place on Wednesday afternoon, ensuring both teams would finish with 4-3 records in Pool B and tied for fourth place.
At this time of the Canadian women’s national curling championship, just staying alive is often the sole goal, and Arsenault, third Christina Black, second Jenn Baxter and lead Emma Logan were able to do just that.
“That’s the main thing,” Arsenault said. “We knew going in that we were the best draw to the button, so we were really hoping [Northwest Territories] would pull that out so we could get third, but that didn’t happen so it looks like a long day tomorrow.”
Arsenault was referring to the first tiebreaker if three teams are locked up for the final playoff spot, which is a pre-tournament draw to the button. Had Northwest Territories defeated P.E.I. (see below) it would have been a three-team tie at 4-3, giving Arsenault the straight shot to the championship pool.
That didn’t happen, so a tiebreaker it is.
And funnily enough, it’s against none other than B.C.
“I think they usually play better than they did today, but we played a really strong game and if we bring that out tomorrow we’ll be fine,” Arsenault said. “That was probably our best game as a team, so we’ll hope to keep that going.”
For Brown, third Erin Pincott, second Dailene Pewarchuk and lead Ashley Klymchuk, it’s just a matter of being better, according to their skip’s assessment.
“We’re glad that we still have a chance, we’d like to have finished it off today but now we’ll just focus on that game,” Brown said. “I’m not too particular who we play, we’ll have to beat whoever it is in order to move on.”
Suzanne Birt and her Prince Edward Island foursome picked the perfect time to go on a roll, and now they’re off to the championship round after finishing 5-2 in Pool B.
Birt and her rink of third Marie Christianson, second Meaghan Hughes and lead Michelle McQuaid didn’t have an easy time of it in their final prelim game, though, needing to score one in the final end to take an 8-7 win over Northwest Territories’ Kerry Galusha.
“It was huge, you don’t want to put yourself through the situation of having to play a tiebreaker, and just having the best record going forward is important,” Birt said. “You always have to fight for the wins out here and Kerry and her team played well.”
Birt roared out to a 5-2 lead by the fourth end against Galusha, fourth Jo-Ann Rizzo, third Sarah Koltun and lead Shona Barbour, but despite holding a 2-4 mark, Galusha didn’t go easily, with a deuce in seven closing things to 6-5, and after holding Birt to one in eight, added a second deuce to tie things 7-7 heading into the final end.
With a loss to Galusha potentially landing Birt in a tiebreaker, it would have been easy to scoreboard watch, but the veteran P.E.I. skip was having none of it.
“We were just focussing on our own game and trying to worry about what’s happening on the other sheets, but it’s hard when you hear the crowd cheering and stuff,” she said. “We just have to focus on our own games.”
When the Wild Card system was implemented two years ago, there was always the potential that teams taking that route would be seriously, seriously competitive in the event.
Loe and behold, that’s exactly what’s happened, and 2020 is no exception.
Jennifer Jones and her Winnipeg foursome of third Kaitlyn Lawes, second Jocelyn Peterman and lead Dawn McEwen capped their round robin with a 6-1 record to finish tied for first in Pool A with Ontario (see below) after a 7-4 victory over Newfoundland and Labrador’s Erica Curtis.
“That feels good, that’s kind of where you want to be at this time of the competition,” Jones said. “It wasn’t our best game and we’ll be better tomorrow…. it just kind of making some good shots when we needed and just our rock positioning a little bit. All in all I was really happy with our play, but today was a little off for us.”
Curtis, third Erin Porter, second Julie Devereaux and lead Beth Hamilton did their best to keep in touch with the six-time past Scotties champion, with the game tied 3-3 through seven ends. A three-spot in the eighth would give Jones control, though, and the two teams exchanged single points the last two ends.
Curtis finished the Scotties with a 1-5 record.
Yukon’s Hailey Birnie did what she could to win her final game at the 2020 Scotties, but when it’s Ontario’s Rachel Homan you’re trying to do it against, you’re in for a tough task indeed.
In the end, Birnie, third Chelsea Duncan, second Gabrielle Plonka and lead Kimberly Tuor would hold a 2-1 lead through five ends, but Homan would score three in the sixth, steal two in seven and go on to a 9-3 win.
Homan, third Emma Miskew. second Joanne Courtney and lead Lisa Weagle finished tied for top spot in Pool A with a 6-1 record and advance to the championship pool, with competition beginning Thursday afternoon.
