Peterson rolls to third straight win
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/02/2021 (1128 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Beth Peterson controls her own destiny at the Scotties, but the Winnipeg curler’s short-term plan was escape to her Calgary hotel room Wednesday night and collapse in bed.
The skip of Team Wild Card 3, a Scotties Tournament of Hearts rookie, admitted her brain is fried.
Peterson’s crew is cruising right now, posting its third consecutive victory — a 9-5 decision over Northern Ontario’s Krysta Burns in the morning — to up its record to 4-3 in Pool A, and is one win away from securing a spot in the next phase of the Canadian women’s championship.
In theory, an immediate return to the pebble might well have been advantageous, rather than an extended break. Keep the rolling going, right Beth?
“Absolutely not. We are very, very happy to have the bye. It’s a long week, and Brittany (Tran), Kat (Katherine Doerksen) and Jenna (Loder) have been sweeping a ton of rocks. I know they’re very happy to have the night off,” said Peterson, 27, who is also pregnant.
“My head feels like a million pounds, so I’m excited to have a nap and then a good sleep and not play until (Thursday) afternoon.”
Peterson meets a wily Scotties veteran, Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories, also 4-3, for the opportunity to compete in the eight-team championship pool.
The top four in each pool carry their records with them, cross over and play four more games. The top three from the championship round then make the Sunday playoff, with the No. 1 seed proceeding straight to the final.
“This is where we wanted to be, obviously, with less losses, because you continue with your record,” Peterson said. “But you’re going to lose some games out here with all these high-quality teams. Our fate’s in our own hands, and that’s a good spot to be in.”
Like most teams, Peterson’s 2020-21 season was a writeoff owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, when Curling Canada opted for an expanded field inside the Calgary bubble, the Assiniboine Memorial squad slipped in as the final Scotties entry.
After an impressive 10-2 triumph over Yukon on opening-night, things went south in a hurry.
Peterson fell to a couple of powerhouses, Kerri Einarson’s Team Canada and former three-time champion Rachel Homan of Ontario. But an 8-5 loss in nine ends to Jill Brothers of Nova Scotia on Sunday night slashed the squad’s collective psyche.
Cue some terrific work by fifth player and coach Cathy Overton-Clapton, a Manitoba curling icon, to rejuvenate the group with a timely pep talk.
“It was a pretty tough loss, our third loss, so that was where we needed Cathy the most,” Peterson conceded. “She rallied us for some big games coming up. Her wealth of knowledge goes without saying and she’s just keeping us all with level heads.
“I know, for us, people are saying it’s not the true Scotties, but for us it is, so the emotions are high and the excitement is high and sometimes we just need to bring that down a little and Cathy has been great help with that.”
Meanwhile, the defending champions from Gimli (7-0) won a pair of games Wednesday and remain the lone unbeaten team left. But Einarson still has a tough chore ahead, in the form of Ontario’s Rachel Homan (6-1) Thursday afternoon — a rematch of the 2020 Scotties final.
Einarson upended Alberta’s Laura Walker 8-3 in just eight ends.
Both the Team Canada and Ontario teams have championship-pool berths locked up, while Alberta (4-3) is also in the mix.
In Pool B play, Tracy Fleury’s East St. Paul team (Wild Card 1), skipped this week by Chelsea Carey, suffered an 8-7 defeat to Saskatchewan’s Sherry Anderson in a crucial contest.
It dropped Fleury to 4-3 with just one game to go, a meeting Thursday morning with Sarah Hill of Newfoundland-Labrador (2-6).
Six-time champion Jennifer Jones of Manitoba (4-2) can claim a berth in the championship pool with a win against plays Melissa Adams of New Brunswick (3-3) and Lori Eddy of Nunavut (0-6).
Quebec skip Laurie St-Georges continues to be a surprise storyline this week, compiling a 5-2 record to perch atop the Pool B standings.
Homan, who owns three Canadian titles and a world crown, was stung 7-5 by Galusha in a morning Pool A draw. The skip from Yellowknife has failed to make the playoffs in 13 previous championships but has built a reputation on posting some shocking round-robin upsets over the years.
But knocking off Homan was a career highlight for the skip of N.W.T.
“We sometimes are the underdog and tend to beat a good team, but honestly I’ve never even really come close to beating Rachel Homan before, so that was really huge for us,” said Galusha, whose brothers are Kevin and Jamie Koe. “We’re super happy right now. This was not a game I was banking on us winning, to be honest.”
Galusha followed up with a 10-2 evening romp over Yukon to set up the key meeting with Peterson.
jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @WFPJasonBell
Jason Bell
Sports editor
Jason Bell wanted to be a lawyer when he was a kid. The movie The Paper Chase got him hooked on the idea of law school and, possibly, falling in love with someone exactly like Lindsay Wagner (before she went all bionic).
History
Updated on Thursday, February 25, 2021 6:25 AM CST: Fixes typos
Updated on Thursday, February 25, 2021 6:30 AM CST: Adds photo
Updated on Thursday, February 25, 2021 6:40 AM CST: Restores corrections to text
Updated on Thursday, February 25, 2021 7:52 AM CST: fixes typo