THUNDER BAY – A box of chocolates is headed Team Homan’s way.
Or maybe drinks will be bought when the Scotties Tournament of Hearts concludes on Sunday.
Either way, Team Northern Ontario owes a big round of thanks to the Wild Card team skipped by Emma Miskew, subbing in for Olympian Rachel Homan.
Miskew guided her team to a 10-2 win over Penny Barker’s Saskatchewan rink, the result guaranteeing hometown favourite Krista McCarville will be playing in front of about 400 wildly cheering fans on Friday when the national women’s curling championship playoffs begin.
McCarville, who admitted sneaking a peak at the Saskatchewan scoreboard, one sheet over on the Fort William Gardens ice, in about the fourth end, despite being in a tight battle with Tracy Fleury’s wild-card team, a match that ultimately decided first place in Pool A when New Brunswick’s Andrea Crawford fell 10-3 to Chelsea Carey’s wild card team.
“My eyes did wander a little,” McCarville said, grinning ever so slightly.
McCarville and third Kendra Lilly made eye contact at the time.
“We both said, ‘Stop looking,” McCarville said.
McCarville gave herself a chance to knock off Fleury, making her 2022 Scotties debut after clearing COVID-19 protocols, but left a relatively easy takeout that scored two, earning her Sudbury-born opponent two points and an 8-6 win.
It’s all in the past now, as McCarville, Lilly, lead Sarah Potts and second Ashley Sippala focus on the task at hand, a win-or-go-home battle on Friday against a yet-to-be determined Pool B opponent, whomever finishes second, the teams crossing over to start the playoff round.
The winner of that match – it’ll be against either Nova Scotia, Manitoba or the Northwest Territories – will take on Fleury for a spot in the 1-2 Page Playoff. The loser of the Fleury match heads to the 3-4 Page Playoff challenging for a spot in the semifinal against the loser of the 1-2 game, the winner going straight to Sunday’s final.
Team Northern Ontario is still alive, it means they’ve still got a chance to capture that elusive Scotties title, and it doesn’t hurt they’ll have a little support in the stands at the seven-decade-old arena.
“We know people have been cheering, but to actually hear them in the stands, it will be nice,” Potts said.
McCarville said it will provide a boost, for sure.
“Now that we know that we’re in the playoffs and we know there will be people in the stands, it’s super exciting. And I know my children are in the Future Stars, so they get to come in for sure. That’s really exciting that we can get some of our family in here.”
Not finishing first makes their path to a championship a little tougher, but it’s not like it’s anything different than in previous years at the Scotties, including their 2016 silver-medal run when they had to beat Kerri Einarson, the current two-time defending champion, and Jennifer Jones, a six-time champ, to reach the final.
“We like to take the hard road,” McCarville said.
“We do this every year,” Potts chimed in.
“We apparently like the hard road better. We like to have more games,” McCarville joked. “We obviously wanted to get first place, but we do feel successful. We are in the playoffs and it’s kind of like we’re starting our next goal.”
Fleury, who shook off the rust in a hurry, said first place has its perks.
“There’s definitely a big advantage to finishing first. You don’t have that sudden death playoff game, so I think it’s kind of nice we can take a breath and have a bit more time off,” said Fleury, praising her teammates, especially third Selena Njegovan, who skipped the wild-card squad to a 6-1 record before Fleury retook the reins on Thursday.
In other action, Prince Edward Island knocked off Newfoundland and Labrador 8-5, to finish their week 4-4. Their East Coast opponent wrapped up at 2-6.
McCarville next takes the ice Friday at 1 p.m.
