Penny Barker is in the win column at the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Barker and her Team Saskatchewan rink of third Christie Gamble, second Jenna Enge and lead Danielle Sicinski picked up an 8-6 victory over Newfoundland’s Sarah Hill in their lone game on Sunday afternoon, improving to 1-1 in the tournament.
The Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre foursome led 4-2 through five ends against Hill, and after surrendering a deuce to knot things up, came right back with a three-spot of their own to take control of the game.
Hill would get two back in the ninth to get within one, but unlike a night earlier, the 10th end went far better for Barker, and she’d pick up one for the 8-6 win.
“It’s just how it works, sometimes you’re on the right side of the inch, sometimes you aren’t, and today it worked out for us in the last end,” Barker said from Thunder Bay. “You’re never too safe with the five-rock rule, you've got to make a lot of shots, and as soon as you kind of let the door open that little bit they can get right back in it. We were only ever up by a couple, so we needed to make sure we keep kept the pressure on and then finish off strong, and we’re really happy to be able to do that.”
The win was a nice turnaround after surrendering four in the final two ends against Wild Card #1's Selena Njegovan a night earlier, including a steal in the 10th end of the 9-7 loss.
“We did a really good job of bouncing back and finishing strong, we wanted to make sure we played the full 10 ends today and we were able to do that,” Barker said.
Barker will have a busier day on Monday, as she faces fellow Saskatchewan rink Chelsea Carey (Wild Card #2) in the morning draw before duelling New Brunswick’s Andrea Crawford in the nightcap. Carey is 1-1, Crawford 3-0.
And the draw won’t get any easier as the week goes on, with elite opponents lined up every day through the rest of the round robin.
“We're at the Scottie is everybody's here for a reason,” Barker said. “They’re all very strong teams and we know we have to play our best every day. A lot of it is being confident in your throws and I think we were throwing a lot more consistent today and kind of let a tough one slip by last night. But today was such a good game by all four of us, it was really strong, top to bottom.”
Teams have quickly found their groove at the event, which is taking place without fans at Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. And while it’s definitely an unusual atmosphere, the game is still the game.
“It's a little weird, I think it would be even stranger for those that played a lot of Scotties and have seen the big crowds every year,” Barker said. “I think it probably helps that we played the PreTrials in front of hardly any fans, too, but you’re at this big event and it’s just everybody on the ice and, the officials, the icemakers, the TSN crew, and that s it. So it’s different, but there's so many people watching back home that are supporting you and still able to kind of follow along… It's still a Scotties, and we're really excited to be here and ready to compete, but it is it's very, it's very different than the first time.”
Saskatchewan’s round robin sees Barker take on New Brunswick’s Suzanne Birt at 1 p.m. on Feb. 1, Nunavut’s Brigitte MacPhail at 8 a.m. and Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville at 6 p.m. on Feb. 2 before closing out the preliminaries against Wild Card #3's Emma Miskew at 1 p.m. on Feb. 3.
The top three teams from each nine-team pool advance to the playoffs beginning Friday at 12 p.m., with the Page Playoffs beginning Feb. 5, followed by the semifinal and final on Feb. 6.
