THUNDER BAY – Rachel Homan was all but unstoppable in winning her fifth Scotties Tournament of Hearts title.
Homan, lead Sarah Wilkes, second Emma Miskew and third Tracy Fleury, ran the table for a second straight year, going undefeated at the women’s national curling championship, concluding the historic run with a 6-1 win over four-time champion Kerri Einarson of Manitoba, in what proved to be the lowest scoring Scotties final yet.
Homan broke open a 2-1, cat-and-mouse kind of game in the seventh, hitting and rolling behind cover.
Einarson was wide and deep on her final shot, leading to a steal of one.
It was more of the same in the eighth, another unforced error when her draw to the rings, facing two Homan stones, came up several feet short of the house.
It was academic at that point, the Ottawa-based Team Canada finishing things off in the ninth with one last steal.
“There’s no feeling,” said Homan, who also won Scotties crowns in 2013, 2014 and 2017, to go along with back-to-back titles in 2024 and 2025.
“The championship days, they’re always tough, they’re always nerve-wracking. We felt the nerves, but we stuck together. We had some misses early, but we just kept sticking together. We made big shots when when we needed to.
“I’m unbelievably proud of my team. We never wavered and we knew we could make the next one.”
Fleury, a Sudbury native who now has two Scotties championships to her name, said it’s always great to win a title in Northern Ontario, the moose calls cheering them on from the stands at Fort William Gardens.
“There were lots of shots made by both teams the whole game and Rachel was just unreal today. I don’t think she missed anything. She made some really key shots when we needed her to,” Fleury said.
Einarson made a hit to sit two in the second, forcing Homan to one, but missed a double in the fourth and Homan forced her to make a hit for a single in the fourth, evening the game at one apiece.
The back-and-forth game continued in the fifth, when Homan had to make a hit for one. The two teams blanked the sixth and Einarson looked like she had a chance to score a couple in the seventh, but Homan made a hit-and-roll behind cover to sit two. Einarson went long and wide and trailed by two.
It didn’t get better in the eighth.
It just wasn’t her night, said Einarson, whose team includes lead Krysten Karwacki, second Karlee Burgess and third Val Sweeting.
“I definitely want some shots back,” Einarson said. “I got caught in some paths, where let’s just say it wasn’t up to speed, and I thought I threw it close, but I guess not.”
Draw weight became a problem as the game wore on, at exactly the wrong times.
“It just got fudgy in the middle and we just didn’t pick up on it or believe it.”
Homan said the key was keeping the pressure on as the game went on, especially in the seventh and eighth.
“We needed a miss, because we were (in) pretty neutral control. Nobody had a huge leg up on the other. Those shots were huge. They were team shots. I didn’t make them on my own, that’s for sure.”
Next up for Homan is the world championships in South Korea. She’s already got two world championship gold medals, winning in 2017 and again last year, and will be looking to add a third in 2025.
Thunder Bay's Karlee Everist and Team Nova Scotia took bronze.
