MOOSE JAW, Sask .-- It took a little McCarville magic for Team Northern Ontario to avoid an upset at the hands of a winless opponent Monday afternoon at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Skip Krista McCarville, lead Jen Gates, second Ashley Sippala and third Kendra Lilly played from behind for most of their match against Team Quebec's Noemie Verreault. But the 2016 finalists stole one in eight to tie the match and two more in the ninth to take the lead for good, edging Verreault 9-7 to improve to 3-1.
After McCarville orchestrated a steal of one in the first, Verreault responded with three in the second to take a 3-1 lead. McCarville struck back with three of her own in the third, but deuces in the fourth and sixth end put Quebec in control with a 7-5 lead.
McCarville fought back with a single in seven to close the gap to one before setting herself up to rally with steals in eight and nine.
The Northern Ontario team will take on Nunavut (0-4) on Tuesday morning, their only match of the day.
The top four teams in Pool A advance to the championship round.
