THUNDER BAY – The hole Krista McCarville dug herself on Friday night got a little deeper on Saturday.
Still struggling with her game, the Thunder Bay skip for the second straight night found herself trailing early and though she was able to battle back against Team Canada’s Rachel Homan, the match slipped away from McCarville in the end, unable to make a double on her final throw of the night to send the game to an extra end.
Instead, Homan, third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes, were able to steal one and prevailed 10-7 over the hometown hero, improving to 2-0 and into a three-way tie in the Pool A standings at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Things have to pick up fast, said McCarville, a two-time Scotties runner-up and four-time medalist at the Canadian national women’s curling championship.
“A few too many mistakes and not enough going our way,” said McCarville, who found herself down 4-1 after surrendering four to Homan in the second end, the fourth point going to the Ottawa-based team on a successful measurement.
“It was a good game overall. The last five ends were definitely more exciting and fun to play and we learned a lot tonight, I feel like, to build for tomorrow.”
The second end was delayed several minutes after an oily substance was spotted on the ice, the technicians giving the Fort William Gardens surface an extra sweep before play was allowed to resume.
Getting those four, even though they gave three right back in the third, was a good confidence boost, playing in front of a sold-out crowd at the Gardens that was loudly cheering on McCarville, lead Sarah Potts, second Ashley Sippala and third Andrea Kelly on just about every shot.
“We started a little bit with ice and rocks that game, honestly, and it took us a little bit too long to get the rocks in the right hands. We got there eventually, and thankfully in enough time.”
Two ends proved to be the difference, resulting in 70 per cent of Homan’s score. After the disastrous second, McCarville tried to freeze on her final stone, bounced off and left an open hit for three. It’s the kind of shot Homan rarely misses, and she didn’t, going ahead 7-4.
After blanking the fifth, McCarville got two back in the sixth, left with an open draw that the crowd cheered and clapped deep enough in the rings for the deuce.
Homan was left with a straight hit for one in the seventh and had McCarville in trouble in the eighth, the veteran skip needing a tricky draw to the four-foot to save a single.
She made the shot and held Homan to one in the ninth, but missed a glorious opportunity to sink one on the button with her first shot, giving her opponent the second chance she needed to make the same shot.
Once again, Homan didn’t miss.
In the 10th, McCarville had a shot at tying the game, but was only able to remove one Team Canada stone and instead took her second loss in as many nights.
Fleury, the former three-time Northern Ontario champion and longtime McCarville rival, said it got a little tight at the end, but the held their composure and came out on top.
“It’s always tough with the five-rock rule to defend up giving a multiple in the last end, when you don’t have hammer. Both teams made a lot of shots and it was exciting. It could have gone either way in the end.”
The Sudbury-born Fleury said the defending champions are right where they want to be, with two wins and no losses.
“It was good to go out there and have a close game so we can kill some of those nerves.”
In other Draw 3 play, Alberta’s Selena Sturmay evened her record at 1-1 with an 11-4 win over Nunavut’s Julia Weagle, Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik edged B.C.’s Corryn Brown 9-8, stealing three in the eighth and one with hammer in the ninth, after trailing 6-2 through four ends. Saskatchewan’s Nancy Martin won her second in a row, 8-6 over Prince Edward Island’s Jane DiCarlo.
