(by Jean Mills) Chelsea Carey and her team of Kristy McDonald, Kristen Foster and Lindsay Titheridge are feeling a little less pressure after notching their first win of the 2012 Capital One Canada Cup, a 7-4 victory over Cathy Overton-Clapham.
A relieved Carey was smiling after the game.
Winnipeg skip Chelsea Carey (centre) encourages her front end
of third Kristy McDonald (L) and (R) second Kristen Foster
as they bring the stone into the house
(Photo CCA/Michael Burns)
“It’s tough. You’re just staring at the goose egg on the standings board and it’s a little terrifying so it’s a monkey off our backs,” said Carey, who made it to the 2011 Capital One Canada Cup final, losing to Jennifer Jones. “Obviously we have a couple of games to play and every game’s worth a lot here. Last year 3-3 got into the playoffs without a tiebreaker, so we’re not dead yet. It feels good to get that one off our backs.”
In the other game in the women’s draw, Heather Nedohin dominated Team Jones, skipped by Kaitlyn Lawes. Nedohin kept the pressure on through the early ends and led 5-2 at the break. Lawes had a chance for multiple points in the sixth when a Beth Iskiw take-out attempt removed all Nedohin’s yellow rocks and left six red rocks in the house, but Nedohin drew against 4 for the single.
On the men’s side, Glenn Howard controlled his game against Kevin Koe right from the start, showing the familiar dominant form by scoring 3 in the second end and keeping the pressure on throughout.
For Brad Gushue, Thursday night was all about getting a win on the board, but that proved to be an uphill task against a hard-hitting Jeff Stoughton team. Stoughton took 5 points in the second end and kept the pressure on, taking the game 9-5 and leaving Gushue at four losses.
In the other game of the evening, Mike McEwen showed why he is still undefeated, taking an 8-6 decision over Kevin Martin.
Three more draws on Friday will determine the final standings for semi-finals – and possible tie-breakers, if necessary. The morning draw sees Epping (1-3) vs Stoughton (4-0), Howard (2-2) vs Martin (1-3), Middaugh (2-2) vs Jones (2-2) and Webster (2-2) vs Lawton (4-0).