MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — It was a tough start for Jolene Campbell and her Team Saskatchewan foursome in their opening game at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Saturday night.
Campbell and her Regina Callie foursome of third Robyn Silvernagle, second Rachel Big Eagle and lead Dayna Demmans gave up eight points over the final four ends and would go on to drop an 11-4 decision to Nova Scotia’s Taylour Stevens during the third draw in Mississauga, Ont.
It was a back-and-forth battle in the early going, as Stevens, third Maria Fitzgerald, second Alison Umlah and lead Cate Fitzgerald had the hammer in the first end and the teams exchanged forces in the opening two frames.
The third end saw every rock in play all over the house at the final skips stones. Campbell made a nice angle raise to get into the four foot and prevent a draw for three, and Stevens would try a similar shot with her last shot but would rub a rock in front and settle for one.
A half dozen rocks from each team were lined up on the left side of the house on Campbell’s final shot in the fourth, and she’d try an angle raise to get to the button for one but would come up thin. Stevens took the single and a 3-1 lead.
Campbell got back on the board the next end, picking up a single point to pull back within one, but Stevens extended her lead the following frame, getting a deuce to take a 5-2 edge.
The seventh was another mess of rocks in the house at Campbell’s final shot, and she’d attempt an angle raise to the button but come in too heavy. That resulted in a measurement on two stones in the four foot to determine who picked up one in the end, and that would go Campbell’s way, making it a 5-3 game with three ends to go.
Stevens made a nice touch tap up on her final shot of the eighth end to pick up her second deuce of the game, and things went even better for Nova Scotia in the ninth, as Campbell faced four on her final shot and needed a piece of the button for one. She’d come up short of the rings, giving Stevens a steal of four, and the teams shook hands.
It was a tough night across the board for Saskatchewan, as they shot 63 per cent as a team — with Campbell at 47 per cent, Silvernagle 56 per cent, Big Eagle at 68 per cent and Demmans 81 per cent.
Other scores from the third draw saw Manitoba’s Katilyn Lawes take an 11-4 win over Quebec’s Jolianne Fortin, Northwest Territories’ Nicky Kaufman defeat Yukon’s Bayly Scoffin 10-5 and Canada’s Kerri Einarson score two in the 10th for a 7-6 win over Ontario’s Hailey Armstrong.
Results from Draw 2 on Saturday morning saw Nova Scotia’s Christina Black roll to a 9-1 win over Nunavut’s Julia Weagle, Alberta’s Selena Sturmay roar out to a 8-1 lead before defeating P.E.I.’s Amanda Power 12-3, Northern Ontario’s Krista Scharf score four in the final two ends for a 7-4 win over Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik and Manitoba’s Beth Peterson take a 7-5 win over Newfoundland’s Mackenzie Mitchell.
Standings in Pool A through two days of competition are as follows:
Canada (Einarson) 2-0
Manitoba (Lawes) 2-0
Nova Scotia (Stevens) 2-0
Ontario (Armstrong) 1-1
Northwest Territories (Kaufman) 1-1
B.C. (Reese-Hansen) 0-1
Saskatchewan (Campbell) 0-1
Quebec (Fortin) 0-2
Yukon (Scoffin) 0-2
Next action for Campbell is Sunday at 1 p.m. against B.C.’s Taylor Reese-Hansen, with the rest of her round robin draw as follows:
Monday
8 a.m. Northwest Territories (Nicky Kaufman)
6 p.m. Quebec (Jolianne Fortin)
Tuesday
1 p.m. Canada (Kerri Einarson)
Wednesday
8 a.m. Yukon (Bayly Scoffin)
6 p.m. Ontario (Hailey Armstrong)
Thursday
1 p.m. Manitoba Kaitlyn Lawes
Friday
12 p.m. Page 1-2 qualifiers
6 p.m. Page 3-4 qualifiers
TSN will have regular draw coverage throughout the week, and you can keep up with all the scores online at www.curling.ca.
