Homan one win away from fifth Scotties title after win over Einarson

THUNDER BAY, Ont. — Rachel Homan had Sharpies in both hands, and there were more autographs to sign for the many fans who awaited her, but first, the skipper replayed the pistol she shot in the game they’d just watched, which made its way through the narrowest gap and nudged out a Manitoba stone to give her Team Canada a lead it would never relinquish. 

It happened in the sixth end against Team Manitoba’s Kerri Einarson, and the game was all tied up with a direct berth to the Scotties final on the line. “Six was way harder than it looked for sure, it was barely there,” Homan said of the shot in question, adding that when her third, Tracy Fleury, asked if she had enough space to make it, Homan assured her she did. 

“I kind of lied,” Homan said, with a shrug. “It was definitely tough — it was barely there.” 

But Homan proved yet again that barely there is all she needs as the world No. 1 skip scored an incredible deuce with that shot and led her Team Canada to a 10th straight win at the Scotties on Saturday night at Fort William Gardens, punching its ticket to Sunday night’s final. 

After going undefeated to win the 2024 Scotties, Homan, Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes are now one win away from repeating the feat a year later — and riding a 21-game win streak at the national championship.  

The latest for the defending world and Canadian champions was an 8-4 win over Manitoba that saw Einarson shake hands after nine, seconds after Homan fired an angled takeout to sit two, then pumped her broom in the air with a grin on her face.  

“I kind of figured Rachel was going to come out shootin’ today,” Einarson said when it was over. “I thought we played well. We didn’t have too many opportunities, but when we did, we did take advantage.”

Down two early, her Team Manitoba tied things up just before the break, cued up by third Val Sweeting’s incredible triple takeout, which left a pair of Manitoba rocks in play and set up for a deuce. 

Then came Homan’s absolute rocket in six on her last shot, which had the crowd roaring, Homan pumping her fist, and coach Jennifer Jones clapping on the sidelines.  

“I mean, she made it look easy,” Miskew said.  

Team Canada piled on after that, stealing another two in seven to take a 6-2 lead after Homan buried her last to sit two, and Einarson’s last shot hit a guard. Manitoba clawed back within two in the eighth when Einarson made an incredible tap and roll to sit shot stone, and then floated in her second. 

Homan made her second-best shot of the game in nine, and had a big smile on her face when she put the game out of reach. 

Next up for Team Manitoba’s Einarson, Sweeting, Karlee Burgess and Krysten Karwacki is a chance to earn a rematch in the final through the Sunday afternoon semifinal. Einarson, who has won four of the last five Scotties, won three of them after getting through that semifinal. 

Manitoba will face Nova Scotia’s Christina Black, ranked No. 4 in Canada, with the winner taking on Team Homan for all the marbles at night.  

“Yeah, definitely want another crack at them,” Einarson said of the potential rematch against Team Canada. “Everyone’s out to beat them. They’re on a hot run. We know we just gotta play our best, and focus on our semifinal tomorrow.” 

Among teams in this country this season, only Einarson has managed to win against Homan, back in October at a Grand Slam event.

Homan is looking for a fifth career Scotties title, and her team rolled in here the heavy favourites, with five title wins this season. They’re set to go for another big one on Sunday, and earn the right to represent Canada at world championships next month in South Korea. 

Asked what it would mean to win the Scotties again, the skipper said, “I mean, everything.” 

“We want to wear that maple leaf in a couple weeks and we’ve trained as hard as we can for this moment,” Homan said. “We’re going to give it our all.”