Saskatchewan eliminated from playoff contention at Scotties

Article content

Despite two wins on Wednesday at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Team Saskatchewan has been eliminated from playoff contention at the national women’s curling championship.

Article content

Article content

Entering Wednesday’s action with a 3-3 record, Nancy Martin and her Saskatoon Nutana Curling Club squad faced two must-win games but they also needed help from others in order to keep their playoff hopes alive in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Article content

While Martin and Team Saskatchewan, also featuring third Chaelynn Stewart, second Kadriana Lott, lead Deanna Doig, alternate Colleen Ackerman and coach Sherry Anderson, did their part — beating Nunavut’s Lisa Weagle 7-4 in the morning draw and Alberta’s Selena Sturmay 9-8 in the evening draw — they didn’t get the help they needed from other teams.

Saskatchewan needed Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik to lose to Prince Edward Island’s Jane DiCarlo or have British Columbia’s Corryn Brown lose to New Brunswick’s Melissa Adams in order to keep their playoffs hopes alive on Wednesday. Neither of those things happened and instead, Saskatchewan helped Skrlik (5-3) and Brown (5-3) clinch a playoff spot by eliminating Sturmay, who fell to 4-3. Canada’s Rachel Homan (7-0) will be the other playoff team in Pool A.

While Saskatchewan — who will be idle on the final day of the round robin on Thursday — also has five wins at 5-3, head-to-head matchups are used to determine the tiebreakers in the standings and since Martin lost to Skrlik and Brown in the round robin, Saskatchewan will be on the outside looking in even if Skrlik or Brown lose their final game on Thursday. Team Saskatchewan also ranks fifth place in the last-stone draw rankings, which is the second tiebreaker if head-to-head results don’t determine the higher seed.

Article content

Article content

With two more draws in Pool B to be played on Thursday, the three playoff teams in that pool have not yet been finalized ahead of the page qualifiers on Friday. The page playoffs are set for Saturday with the semifinal and final going on Sunday.

Wednesday’s scoring summary

Despite the final standings not working out in their favour, Saskatchewan put together a pair of impressive wins on Thursday.

In the morning draw, Martin and Weagle were tied 1-1 in the third end before Saskatchewan took control of the game with a steal of two to make it 3-1. Weagle then battled back to tie the game 3-3 through six ends.

After the teams traded singles in the next two ends, Martin and company scored three points in the ninth end to virtually secure the 7-4 victory.

The evening draw was another close battle with Martin and Sturmay playing in a back-and-forth battle.

After the teams traded singles in the first and second ends, Alberta scored three points in the third end to take a 4-1 lead before Martin came back and tied the game with three of her own in the fourth.

With single points scored in the fifth and seventh ends by Sturmay and a deuce in six by Martin, the game was once again tied heading into the eighth end.

Article content

And while Martin took the narrow lead with a single point, Sturmay jumped back on top in the ninth end with two points of her own.

That gave Saskatchewan the hammer in the final end needing two points for the victory. And Martin and company played a great end leaving her with an open draw for two points, which she made to secure the 9-8 victory in her first Scotties appearance as a skip and second overall.

Pool A standings

(As of Wednesday night; top three teams make playoffs)

1. *Canada (Homan) 7-0
2. *Alberta (Skrlik) 5-2
3. *British Columbia (Brown) 5-2
4. Saskatchewan (Martin) 5-3
5. Alberta (Sturmay) 4-3
6. Northern Ontario (McCarville) 3-4
7. New Brunswick (Adams) 2-5
8. Prince Edward Island (DiCarlo) 1-6
9. Nunavut (Weagle) 0-7

*clinched playoff spot

Team Saskatchewan results

• Feb. 14 vs. Northern Ontario (McCarville) — 10-6 win
• Feb. 15 vs. P.E.I. (DiCarlo) — 8-6 win
• Feb. 16 vs. B.C. (Brown) — 7-6 loss
• Feb. 17 vs. New Brunswick (Adams) — 7-5 win
• Feb. 17 vs. Canada (Homan) — 9-6 loss
• Feb. 18 vs. Alberta (Skrlik) — 10-5 loss
• Feb. 19 vs. Nunavut (Weagle) — 7-4 win
• Feb. 19 vs. Alberta (Sturmay) — 9-8 win

[email protected]

Article content