(by Jean Mills)
In a rematch of the 2005 Canadian Curling Trials final, Kelly Scott, of Kelowna B.C., scored one in the 10th end to edge Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink 6-5 in Draw 4 action at the 2013 Capital One Road to the Roar, presented by Monsanto.
Ten of the 12 teams competing for the final two women’s spots in the 2013 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings, presented by Monsanto, were on the ice at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday morning, including the first games for the four top seeds – Kleibrink, Laura Crocker of Edmonton, Renee Sonnenberg of Grande Prairie, Alta., and 2010 Olympic silver-medallist Cheryl Bernard of Calgary.
In a tight game between Kleibrink (Bronwen Webster, Kalynn Park, Chelsey Matson, coach Kay Montgomery) and Scott, both teams battled for control on swingy ice.
“That was a tricky spot, and if you didn’t get on it, it was gone,” said Scott about her steal in the sixth when Kleibrink couldn’t get around the front guards.
Tied after nine, Scott was able to put the game away on an open hit.
“We felt somewhat in control [when] we got our deuce and stole the one, but it’s so close and you’re never in the clear,” she said. “We did feel in control with last rock in the last end. It was definitely a conscious effort to try to have hammer coming home.”
Scott, with her team of Jeanna Schraeder, Sasha Carter, Sarah Wazney and coach Brent Giles remains in the A-Event with two wins.
“It kind of feels like a continuation of the Kingston Scotties last year,” she said. “We ended that on such a positive note that it feels great to be out in the arena setting again and really having fun out there.”
In other action, Krista McCarville, of Thunder Bay, Ont., won 6-5 over Bernard. McCarville controlled the game early, taking a 4-0 lead and forcing errors from Bernard in the early going. In the sixth end, Bernard drew against six to start a comeback, but it wasn’t enough, despite stealing one in the final end.
In the meeting of the young guns, Crocker, [whose team includes PEI native Erin Carmody], stole two in the 10th end and four more in an extra end to score a 10-6 victory over Tracy Horgan of Sudbury, Ont., and Sonnenberg took three in the seventh on the way to a 9-4 win over Barb Spencer of Winnipeg.
In the only women’s B-Event matchup, Cathy Auld of Mississauga, Ont., stole back-to-back deuces from Calgary’s Crystal Webster, [whose team includes PEI native Geri-Lynn Ramsay] for an 8-3 win. With two losses, Webster now moves to the C-Event of the women’s draw.
The Capital One Road to the Roar continues on Wednesday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. (all times AST). [PEI’s Brett Gallant and Adam Casey, on the Brad Gushue team, see action at 8 against Jake Higgs and his Glencoe Ontario team.] Playoff draws will be broadcast on Saturday and Sunday by TSN/RDS, the official broadcast partner of the Season of Champions. Go to http://www.curling.ca/championships/television-and-webcast-schedule/ for the broadcast schedule.
Live scoring, statistics and updated draw brackets are available at http://www.curling.ca/scoreboard/