Manitoba Beats Canada in Epic Battle at Scotties

The 2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts continues this week in Moose Jaw, and Monday night's action wasn't short on thrills for the fans at Mosaic Place.

Two teams picked up wins to stay undefeated, while Team Saskatchewan capped off a successful day with another win to improve to 3-2 with two wins on the day.

Manitoba Wins Showdown with Canada

Rachel Homan and Team Canada had an incredible streak going at the Scotties as they hadn't lost in 22 games heading into the night draw on Monday. That changed however thanks to the last team to beat them.

Jennifer Jones and Team Manitoba saw their record stay unblemished at 5-0 with an 8-7 win in an extra end over Canada during Draw 8 at the Scotties here in Moose Jaw.

“It's great to win games like that and having to make some big draws to win games, it's good,” said Jones. “I kind of botched my shot in nine, but found a way to win that game, which is a big confidence (boost) for us heading forward.”

Not that the Jones rink needs any more confidence. The defending Olympic gold medallists have looked like a strong threat to end Homan's reign on the Scotties over their first five games.

Fans were treated to a thrilling game on Monday night with both teams missing some shots, but also making some big shots to keep the game going.

Homan made a draw to the button in the tenth to send the game to extras, while Jones answered in the 11th with a draw around a guarded Homan rock into the four-foot for the win.

“That was a really good game, really proud of my team, we made a ton of shots and so did the other team,” said Homan. “It was a great game to play, really fun and Jones played really well.”

Jones showed why she's considered one of the best in the business late in the match, putting the pressure on Homan to answer shot-for-shot.

There was one that Jones would like back however. After Homan scored two in the eighth to tie the game at 6-6, Jones went for a three-spot in the ninth rather than taking an easy two that was there. She ended up getting one, giving Homan the chance to force extras in the tenth.

“I was positive that we were lying shot, but I don't have best eyes in the world, so two was big, I probably should have just thrown the draw for two, it was kind of one that you want back, but we can't, but we found a way to win,” said Jones.

With Jones and Homan going at it on Sheet D and Saskatchewan battling Ontario on Sheet C, there was a great atmosphere in the rink throughout the night as the fans were hanging on every shot.

When Homan sent the game to extras, it looked as though fans were heading for the exits, but rather they were better positioning themselves on the concourse for the 11th.

The building was dead quiet when the skips were delivering their final shots.

“To me there's nothing like the hush of the crowd, it makes you feel like you're in a big moment and that's what sports is all about, so it makes it more fun,” said Jones.

Manitoba is sitting tied for first place with a 5-0 record, being joined by Val Sweeting and Team Alberta, who picked up a 6-5 win over Prince Edward Island (2-3).

Team Canada falls to 4-1 with their first loss at the Scotties since Draw 12 on February 21st, 2013. It was a string of 22 straight wins for Homan and company.

Saskatchewan Gets Back on Track

The Stefanie Lawton rink hadn't played bad over the opening weekend, but they still found themselves entering the day with a 1-2 record at the Scotties.

They made sure that changed on Monday, picking up an 8-3 win over Quebec in the afternoon draw and then topping Ontario 4-3 in the night draw to move into a tie for fourth place with Northern Ontario at 3-2.

Lawton said they were happy to give the Mosaic Place crowd something to cheer about.

“They wanted to cheer, you could tell that with any shot that we were making, they were right there, so with a stronger day today, they were certainly behind us and they have been throughout this whole competition, so we're happy with that,” said Lawton after the night draw.

Saskatchewan and Julie Hastings' Ontario rink went back-and-forth in a defensive game during the night draw with the opening hammer really deciding the winner as neither team stole a point or gave up more than a single.

“It was a little more defensive, but you're going to have some of those games,” said Lawton. “Hammer does mean a decent amount, you can always manoeuvre with some blanks in there if you need be, so I would say we managed the game well.”

With Lawton going up 1-0 after two, the teams traded points throughout the match, outside of a blanks in the seventh and ninth. Hastings just could find the shot to break the run for a steal or a multi-point end.

“The offence was difficult tonight, we weren't burying around any corner guards and both teams are really good defensively, so we just kept the house clean and kept it close and unfortunately we fell short in that last end,” said Hastings.

“We're just happy that we're playing well, we're in our games and that we're having chances to come out on top at the end of the day.”

Tuesday is a quieter day at the Scotties with just two draws. Saskatchewan will be back on the ice at 7:00pm against Nova Scotia (2-3).

“We just need to come out strong and we'll be good,” said Lawton looking ahead to Tuesday.