Stefanie Lawton and Team Saskatchewan picked up a pair of wins, which allowed them to lock up a spot in the 3-4 Page Playoff game on Saturday before playing their last round robin game.
Saskatchewan’s dominating 9-1 win over previously undefeated Alberta combined with Team Canada’s 6-5 loss to New Brunswick gave them sole possession of third place.
“We had a tough game against New Brunswick and we just kept on getting stronger and stronger and coming into this evening’s game, we were just ready to play and we came out strong against Alberta,” said Lawton after her team's Thursday night win.
The Lawton rink had dropped a tough 6-5 game against Northern Ontario on Wednesday that made it so they would need a big day on Thursday to secure a playoff spot.
They got it with two wins and some help from other teams.
Lawton feels like they're peaking at the right time with the playoffs starting on Friday night.
“In other years, it's kind of been where we'd start off strong and maybe claw your way through,” she said. “We've had some good games throughout the competition, but nothing playing to this level and this is exactly where we want to be, so we're going to keep rolling with it.”
Saskatchewan was on point throughout their meeting with Alberta on Thursday night as the team curled at 87-percent with Lawton hitting at a 94-percent rate, which was the highest by a skip throughout the week.
For the second straight game, Saskatchewan opened with a deuce in the first end and were rolling from there. They stole one in the second and then answered Alberta's single in the third with two in the fourth, one in the fifth and two more in the sixth for an 8-1 advantage.
After a blank in the seventh, Saskatchewan finished off the game with a steal of one in the eighth.
“Their team was bang on, they were playing really well and we were a little bit off and paid for it,” said Alberta skip Val Sweeting. “We've just got to shake that one off and come back. We were happy to keep it light at the end of that game, so that will help us move forward (Friday).”
The loss was the first real blip for Alberta after they played solid throughout the week on their way to a 9-1 record so far. They locked up a spot in the 1-2 Page Playoff on Thursday afternoon.
Sweeting said they definitely wanted to play much better.
“We wanted to keep the momentum going, but it just wasn't our game out there,” she said. “We'll just take tomorrow as it comes.”
With a playoff spot locked up for Saskatchewan as well, they're not looking too far ahead either, instead aiming to continue winning heading into the playoffs as they wrap-up the round robin against Prince Edward Island on Friday morning.
“We want to play a strong game, that's what we're coming out for (Friday),” said Lawton. “We want to play a strong game and feel confident going where ever the next step is.”
Alberta will face Manitoba to wrap-up the round robin on Friday morning at 9:00am. The winner of that game clinches first place in the round robin, but other than that the game is just a tune-up for what lies ahead on Friday night for both teams as they meet again in the 1-2 Page Playoff game.
“We'll just have to take it one game at a time, we have to see it as our last round robin game and just get comfortable with the ice, shake off this loss, throw well and get the feel back,” said Sweeting.
Canada on the Ropes
After showing such dominance at last year's Scotties, coming into this week nobody expected Team Canada's playoff lives to come down to the final draw on Friday morning, but that's the case.
The Rachel Homan rink lost twice on Thursday, falling 7-6 to Alberta and 6-5 to New Brunswick, to sit tied with Northern Ontario at 6-4 heading into a meeting between the two teams on Friday.
That game will serve as a winner-take-all scenario with the winner heading to the 3-4 Page Playoff game.
“We obviously have to regroup,” said Emma Miskew, the third on Team Canada. “We just have to go out tomorrow and play better.
“We have been playing well, it's just we missed a couple of shots, so we just have to be better.”
After winning their showdown with Ontario in the morning draw on Friday and then falling to Manitoba in the afternoon, Tracy Horgan and Northern Ontario were left to watch in the night draw, but they got some help from New Brunswick to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Canada and Northern Ontario meet at 9:00am on Friday.
Fri, Apr 26, 10:00 AM
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