THUNDER BAY – In her first match-up with Thunder Bay’s Team Dubinsky, Dominique Vivier had her opponent right where she wanted them.
Then disaster struck.
She gave up a steal of three and lost 7-6.
Vivier wasn’t about to do it again.
On Monday, tied 4-4 in the eighth and final end, with hammer, she played it simple, and when Claire Dubinsky’s final stone sailed a little too far, Vivier, lead Sydney Anderson, second Toula Pappas and third Brooklyn Ideson were Ontario Winter gold medallists, scoring one to capture top spot in the six-team event with a 5-4 triumph.
In the process they handed Team Dubinsky their first and only loss of the week.
“After we lost to them the first time, we really wanted that rematch in the final and we were ready to play against them again and put up a better performance,” Vivier said, celebrating the win with her teammates.
The turning point in the match was the fourth end.
Dubinsky, lead Lily Ariganello, second Bella McCarville and third Rylie Paul had scored a pair with hammer in the first and the two teams traded singles in the second and third. At that point the Kakabeka Falls Curling Club rink was leading 3-1.
Paul missed a shot at a double takeout and Dubinsky tried a similar shot, both leaving one Vivier stone hanging in the house.
Facing two, Dubinsky crashed into a guard on her final stone, leaving an open draw for three.
Vivier didn’t miss.
“The three was good, but if we weren’t down two it would have been a lot better,” she said.
Dubinsky was forced to settle for one in the sixth and the two teams blanked the seventh.
Dubinsky had a chance at a hit-and-roll behind cover with her first shot in the eighth, but once again hit a guard, leaving Vivier still with a shot rock. Her second shot made it past the guard, but had too much weight.
Vivier did not have to throw her final stone.
“Going 6-0 and then losing the final, it does sting. It definitely stings. We played hard, it was a tight game, tied in the last. That final draw unfortunately was just a foot too heavy and that’s what did it for us,” Dubinsky said.
The three in four also hurt.
“After that we needed to brush it off. That end had a lot of downs. We also made half shots. We all missed shots. Giving up that three we definitely were upset, but we were down by one and we knew that we could come back,” Dubinsky said.
In mixed doubles, Thunder Bay’s Lily Wright and Brayden Sinclair won their bronze-medal match 10-0 over Remy Pietrangelo and Claire Fish.
In the U18 boys competition, Evan MacDougall captured gold with an 8-5 win over Tyler MacTavish, scoring four in the seventh to pull out the win.
Dylan Stockton’s team won the bronze, beating Liam Rowe’s team 8-2.
