SYDNEY, N.S. – There’s a logjam tying up the Pool A playoff hunt at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Sydney, N.S.
Thunder Bay’s Krista McCarville is right in the thick of things.
The Team Northern Ontario captain scored a 9-5 win on Tuesday night to up her record to 4-2, leaving her in a four-way tie for second with Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia.
Alberta, at 6-0 has already clinched top spot, with one game to go in round-robin play. Three of the four teams tied for second will advance to the championship round.
“We are just putting more shots together and just getting used to the ice and communicating out there and getting the results that we’re used to,” said McCarville third Kendra Lilly in an interview posted on www.curling.ca.
“We’re just going to try to keep bringing this into tomorrow.”
McCarville jumped in front 4-1 with deuces in the first and third ends, then stole singles in the fourth and fifth to extend their lead to five.
Lilly said practice makes perfect for a team that doesn’t play in as many events as some of the other competitors in Cape Breton.
“We were on the ice pretty much every day and just working really hard because we know that we can’t commit to playing in every grand slam. So the work we do at home on our ice in Sudbury and in Thunder Bay kind of makes up for what we can’t do in spiels.”
She added she’s happy with how the team is playing this week.
“We had a really good game tonight and earlier today. We just put more shots together like we know that we can, so we’re comfortable and we’re getting the hang of it and we just want to keep it going into tomorrow,” Lilly said.
Nova Scotia skip Jill Brothers battled back with three in the sixth, but McCarville added a point in the seventh and stole two more in the eighth to put the match out of reach.
Meanwhile Manitoba’s Tracy Fleury, who will take on McCarville on Wednesday, the winner guaranteed to move on, made easy work of Nunavut, needing just eight ends in a 12-2 triumph.
Alberta’s Chelsea Carey handed Ontario’s Rachel Homan her second loss in six outings, doubling her 6-3, while B.C.’s Sarah Wark scored one in the 10th to join the playoff mix at 4-2 with a 7-6 win over winless Quebec (0-6).
Fleury and McCarville will tangle in the 1:30 p.m. draw on Wednesday, while Homan and Wark will also battle for a spot in the championship round.
