KAKABEKA FALLS – Krista McCarville is used to playing from behind.
This season, it’s almost become a bit of her trademark.
McCarville, Sarah Potts, Ashley Sippala and Oye-Sem Won were at it again on Wednesday night, spotting youngster Dallas Burgess and his squad a 4-0 advantage in Tbaytel Major League of Curling play a the Kakabeka Falls Curling Club.
But, never ones to give up on a game, McCarville and company held strong, battled back and forced the match to an extra-end shot to the button, downing Burgess 7-6 when his shot sailed to the back of the house, despite only needing a piece of the button to claim victory.
“It was definitely a slow start coming out here,” McCarville said. “We struggled with the ice a little bit. Getting two on the board really helped us and then turning it around and stealing is always helpful. In curling, you’re never out of it, you just keep plugging along.
“Our team seems to do pretty good at that so we just think about those days when we won games coming back, when we were losing, and that’s basically what we tried today.”
McCarville would be the first to admit she didn’t have her best game.
In the sixth she flashed on her first stone, leaving Burgess with a relatively easy two to jump in front 6-4, and in the final end she crashed on her guard, leaving her opponent an opening wide enough to sail through and remove McCarville’s shot stone.
Burgess, however, crashed into one of the displaced rocks, leaving McCarville the steal of one to tie the game 6-6.
“It’s tough going down any points. To go down four points is obviously a lot more tough. But we know how to battle back. It’s that back’s against the wall feeling like we’re used to,” said McCarville, the third-place finisher at last month’s Olympic trials.
Two points is better than none, she added, despite giving up the third point by not being able to win in regulation.
“Absolutely, I’ll take it,” McCarville said.
So too will Trevor Bonot, who eked out a 7-6 win over a pesky Ben Mikkelsen foursome.
Bonot looked to have the match well in hand in the fourth, picking up four to jump in front 5-2. But one end later Mikkelsen evened the contest with three of his own. Bonot took the lead for good in the sixth scoring a pair and took the game 7-6, not needing to throw his final stone in the eighth.
“The ice was very tricky tonight and I feel that caused a couple of those big scores, but it’s always fun to have a back-and-forth battle go right down to the wire,” Bonot said.
In the other early-draw match, Kory Carr knocked off Mike Desilets 6-5.
Bonot maintained his hold on top spot in the standings, with 27 points. Carr is second, at 25 points, while McCarville is solo third at 20 points.
