‘Huge, huge’ win for Einarson

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This article was published 18/02/2025 (214 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Everything seemed to be going against Kerri Einarson.

For the second game in a row, the Gimli skip couldn’t get it going and the possibility of an early exit from the national women’s curling championship looked entirely possible as she fell into a near-insurmountable 7-2 hole after five ends against fellow Manitoban Kate Cameron.

There were some unlucky breaks that led to the deficit, then other shots — like a routine in-turn draw in the fifth that Einarson left well short to concede a steal of two — that were uncharacteristic for the four-time Canadian champion. It also didn’t help that Cameron was nearly untouchable, firing at a 94 per cent efficiency in the first half.

Then Einarson began to string it together. A score of three in the sixth end, another three in the eighth and a deuce with the hammer in the 10th capped what might have been a tournament-saving 10-9 victory for Einarson over Cameron at Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ont., on Tuesday evening.

“That was a huge, huge win for us,” said Einarson, who joined Cameron at 3-2. “We know our backs are against the wall and we have quite a few tough games coming up, so we know that we have to play our very best. We came out today shooting, and yes, (Cameron) made a really great shot in the second end but we made quite a few great shots at the end too, so we knew we just had to stick with it and take advantage of any opportunities we had.”

It was as close to a must-win as it could get for Einarson, who already had two losses along with a daunting schedule to close out round-robin play. She plays Kristina Black of Nova Scotia (4-1) today (1 p.m. CT), then faces Danielle Inglis of Ontario (4-1) and finishes against Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes (3-3) on Thursday.

Einarson lost 9-6 earlier on Tuesday to Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories. It was a game in which the Manitoban skip struggled, shooting at a 65 per cent clip. Her misfortune continued into the evening as Cameron executed a sensational angled run-back double-takeout to score three in the second end.

Einarson responded with a score of two before Cameron took a deuce right back and then stole a pair in the fifth.

“Even in the first half of the game I thought we played well,” Einarson said. “We just knew we had to stick with it and don’t get down on ourselves and that’s what we did.”

There was no big half-time speech, but there was a heightened sense of urgency from her team.

“We just kind of re-grouped, like, ‘Let’s get a deuce’ or, ‘If we have an opportunity to get three, let’s take it,’ and that’s what we did,” said Einarson. “I made a pistol of a shot in six to get us back and stay alive, and I knew right then and there it was going to come down to the wire and, sure enough, it did, and we put some pressure on them and capitalized on any opportunities we had.”

The loss was a blown opportunity for Cameron, who was in great shape at 3-1 entering the contest.

Instead, Einarson’s victory further muddies Pool B, as seven of the nine teams have at least two losses. Trailing Black and Inglis is Laurie St-Georges of Quebec (4-2), and in the hunt behind her is the trio of Manitobans and Galusha (2-3).

Lawes stayed in the mix with a pair of pivotal wins Tuesday that required eight ends each, beginning with a 13-3 decision over Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brooke Godsland and later an 11-4 triumph over Bayly Scoffin of Yukon.

Lawes faces Galusha today at 1 p.m., when one more team will be removed from the race for one of the top three spots. Cameron will play Inglis in the same draw, then close her round-robin against Scoffin and Black on Thursday.

In Pool A, Rachel Homan, representing Team Canada, is undefeated at 5-0. Trailing her is Kayla Skrlik of Alberta (4-2) and Corryn Brown of British Columbia (4-1).

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca