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Team McCarville set for another Scotties run

Skip Krista McCarville will be playing in her third Tournament of Hearts, while lead Sarah Potts is making her third appearance.
McCarville Potts
Skip Krista McCarville (left) and lead Sarah Potts are given a send-off on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 ahead of their trek to Sydney, N.S. and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. (Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY – Krista McCarville’s seventh trip to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts may be her most difficult yet.

The 36-year-old skip, who curls out of the Fort William Curling Club, and her slightly revamped squad that includes Sudbury’s Jen Gates subbing for long-time second and mom-to-be Ashleigh Sippala, are in the dreaded Pool of Death at the Sydney, N.S. event that kicks off on Saturday at Centre 200.

First up is three-time Scotties champion Rachel Homan, making her sixth appearance at nationals. Along the way McCarville will tangle with the likes of Chelsea Carey, the 2016 champion who edged the Northern Ontario in that year’s final.

Long-time rival Tracy Fleury, who made the move to Manitoba this season, Nova Scotia’s Jill Brothers, Quebec’s Gabrielle Lavoie, B.C.’s Sarah Wark and Nunavut’s Jenine Bodner are all in the hunt, looking to secure one of four playoff spots coming out of Pool A.

It’s not going to be easy, said McCarville at Tuesday night’s send-off at her home curling club, but she thinks she’s up for the task, coming off a too-close-for-comfort 8-7 win over Jenna Enge last month to claim her third Northern Ontario women’s championship.

She’s not worried about who she has play, knowing full well to win her first title she’s going to have to beat most of the top curlers in the country, regardless.

“You know what, I hope it will be really sweet at the end when we come out of that death pool,” said McCarville, whose team went 1-3 at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling Tour Challenge, played in November at the Thunder Bay Tournament Centre.  

“This is a really good Scotties, and to play Homan and to play (Jennifer) Jones and whoever comes out of the wild-card, Chelsea Carey, Fleury – we want to beat them. We want to beat them to win the Scotties and we don’t want to go there and play teams we know we can beat and really get through an easy field ... We want to go there and we want to play the best teams to win.”

Lead Sarah Potts, playing in her third Scotties, said it was disappointing not to getting to the championship a year ago. She’s actually looking forward to starting with Homan, a test of where the team – that doesn’t hit the circuit as much as the other contenders – is at.

“They’re a great team, obviously. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing to start off with them. Our pool is tough, but I think all the teams are tough. You just have to go there and play well,” Potts said. “We just want to make sure we’re practising hard and ready to go.”

The key is to figure out the arena ice in a hurry. Potts isn’t worried about a learning curve for the team’s newest member.

“With Jen being new, it hasn’t hurt us so far. We won an event with her this year and we won provincials. She’s got a ton of experience playing in really big games, because she played with (Kelsey) Roque out in Alberta,” Potts said.

“She fits in really well, so we’re not worried about that. It will be really exciting having her there and we know that she’s even more excited because it’s her first time.”

Team McCarville, which also includes third Kendra Lilly and alternate Lorraine Lang, kicks off its Scotties quest on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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