Rachel Homan’s curling team was virtually, if not mathematically, assured a playoff spot at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts with a fifth straight win.
The defending champions and reigning world champions remained unbeaten with a 7-4 win over New Brunswick’s Melissa Adams on Tuesday.
In the four years the Canadian women’s curling championship has been an 18-team affair, only once has five wins not been enough for the playoff cutline.
It happened to be Homan’s team in 2023, with six wins in Pool B, that shut the door on teams below it.
“We’re pretty close to playoffs,” Homan concurred. “Just have to keep getting better.
“It wasn’t a great performance today, so just need to keep building as the week goes on. Just learn the ice a little bit. We had lots of curl yesterday and then lost it all today. I guess just keeping up with the draws as they go.”
Homan, vice Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes out of the Ottawa Curling Club extended their run of wins in the tournament to 17.
Homan is the only woman to have skipped teams to unbeaten records twice in the tournament (2014, 2024), but running the table in back-to-back years wasn’t a priority for the 35-year-old.
“It’s never on my mind for sure,” she said. “It doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day, we want to be in the final and we hope to make more shots that the other team, but we’re a long ways away from that right now, so just focus on what you need to do now to come out tomorrow strong.”
The top three teams in each pool of nine advance to the round of six, who will battle for four Page playoff berths.
Sunday’s winner represents Canada in the world championship March March 15-23 in Uijeongbu, South Korea, and earns $100,000 in prize money.
Homan (5-0) takes on B.C.’s Corryn Brown (4-1) in a key Pool A matchup Wednesday morning.
Galusha stuns Einarson in extra ends
Northwest Territories’ Kerry Galusha upset four-time champion Kerri Einarson of Manitoba 9-6 in an extra end to put both teams at 2-2 after the morning draw.
Tied 4-4, Galusha scored two in the eighth to put Einarson on the ropes. However, Einarson scored once in the ninth and tenth ends to force extras before eventually falling.Â
Galusha didn’t throw her final stone after Einarson’s attempted draw was short of the rings. The result puts both Einarson and Galusha at 2-2, with the latter ahead in the standings in fifth.
Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik got to 4-2 with a 10-5 doubling of Nancy Martin that dropped Saskatchewan to 3-3.
Skrlik’s spectacular double tap double takeout to score five in the sixth end cracked the game open.
“It sealed the deal pretty much,” Skrlik said. “We will be competing against Nancy for a playoff spot the rest of the week, so to win that one and go head-to-head in the win column against her is huge in our playoff run.”
Tiebreaker games are no longer in the format. The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head result followed by the cumulative results of last-stone draws that precede each game.
Martin has just two games remaining Wednesday in the pool, so her team could spend Thursday awaiting its fate.
“Thursday may be an interesting day,” the skip said.
Alberta’s Selena Sturmay was 3-2 after a 9-4 win over Prince Edward Island’s Jane DiCarlo.
Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville won a second straight games to get to 2-4. Her team doubled Nunavut’s Julia Weagle 8-5.
Ontario’s Danielle Inglis (4-1) had the Pool B evening draw off while others chased her team. Manitoba’s Christina Black and Manitoba’s Kate Cameron were 3-1 and Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges was 3-2.
Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes was 2-3 after a 13-3 victory over Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brooke Godsland (0-5).
Inglis defeated Yukon’s Bayly Scoffiin (1-3) by a score of 9-6. Cameron doubled St-Georges 12-6.
