THUNDER BAY – Never count Kerri Einarson out.
The four-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion found herself down by four midway through Wednesday afternoon’s match-up against Team Nova Scotia, but managed to flip a switch for a second straight outing and rally back for the win.
Nova Scotia, skipped by Christina Black, stole singles in each of the first three ends and scored a deuce in the fifth to go up 5-1.
It was eerily similar to Tuesday night’s 10-9 come-from behind win over fellow Manitoban Kate Cameron, a game she trailed 7-2 at the break.
“I told myself either keep fighting, or get off the sheet,” Einarson said, her record now 4-2 with two games left in round-robin play.
“I just kept fighting. I know I wasn’t playing my best. I was throwing them really close for the first four ends, but on the wrong side of the inch of things. I knew I was close. I just had to trust in it and believe in it.”
Einarson missed on a raise of a Nova Scotia stone in the first. In the second she didn’t have enough weight, facing three on her final stone, giving black another steal. It was more of he same in the third, Einarson getting the hit she needed but rolling too far, surrendering yet another score.
She got one back in the fourth, then after Black made a draw to the four foot for a pair in the fifth, Einarson’s comeback began in earnest.
The veteran skip made a double for two in the sixth and then in the seventh Black was unable to make a draw facing two, and the game was tied, 5-5.
Einarson made a near perfect draw to the button in the eighth and Black had a shot to remove it and score three but came up short and instead found herself trailing 6-5 heading into the ninth.
The first deuce was the turning point, she said.
It was like, OK, that’s perfect. Let’s string along eight shots in a row and we did and we came out with the steal of two and I think that was the momentum switch,
With Ontario’s Danielle Inglis pulling out an 8-6 extra-end win over Cameron, and Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges continuing to roll with an 8-4 win over Yukon’s Bayly Scoffin, giving both teams five wins, Einarson could little afford to add a third defeat to the loss column.
Gutty wins are also starting to give the team a lot more confidence, which could be trouble for the field.
“Yeah, I think if we can keep playing like we did the last half and carry that forward to the next game, I’ll wake up and maybe show up for the first few ends,” Einarson said.
Inglish, who trailed 5-2 at the break, fought back to steal a single in the 10th to send it to an extra end, then forced Cameron to try a draw, facing three, for the win. She came up short.
At 5-1, she likes where’s she’s at, the playoffs well within reach.
Behind Inglis and St-Georges (5-2) are three teams with four wins, Einarson and Black at 4-2, and Kaitlyn Lawes, who sits at 4-3.
The playoffs were the goal, Inglis said,
“That’s where we want to be an it feels great,” she said, adding it felt like her team was in control the whole game, except the fourth, when they gave up three.
“Other than the scoreboard turning, we still thought we were in control.”
St-Georges, whose path to the playoffs is slightly trickier, it still feels good to be in the hunt.
“The job is not done, but we’re just focusing on having a good game tomorrow morning,” the Quebec skip said.
In the only other Draw 14 match, Lawes doubled up the Northwest Territories’ Kerry Galusha 8-4.
