TRURO, N.S. — Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based team continued their hot streak to start the season by running the table with a perfect 7-0 overall record and score the rink’s third Masters title in four years.
Homan capped the first major of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season with a 6-4 victory over Edmonton’s Val Sweeting in the women’s final Sunday night, taking her fourth trophy of 2015-16 at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre.
While it’s Masters title No. 3 for Homan, third Emma Miskew and lead Lisa Weagle, it’s the first for second Joanne Courtney, who joined the squad in 2014 replacing Alison Kreviazuk.
“It feels amazing. I don’t really know what to say right now because I’m really, really excited,” Courtney said. “We had a great week and felt really good out there and I’m proud with how we played in the final.”
“With all of the Slams now you kind of forget which ones are which so it’s great that we get our name back on the trophy here,” Miskew said. “But obviously, one we get to qualify for the Champions Cup now, which we’re really excited about and we just wanted to come out and have a great game. We were in a final before and we really wanted to win this one.”
“Winning always feels great,” she added. “We’re really happy for Jo, it was her first Grand Slam win so this one feels pretty great just for her.”
Homan blanked the first and took two in the second to opening the scoring up 2-0. Sweeting held shot stone in three before her last rock but threw it away as Homan made a tight freeze to hold her to just one.
Team Homan ran into a bit of trouble in the fourth facing two with their last shot, but Homan made the high-pressure draw to grab a bite of the button and get the single to regain the two-point advantage 3-1.
Homan made a double takeout with her last in five to sit two and force Sweeting to make a tap for one and draw within one.
Homan made a double tap to get another two points in six and put on the pressure in seven by lying five stones. Sweeting’s shot overcurled. She only gave up a steal of one but trailed by four coming home.
Homan made an open hit with her last shot in eight to run Sweeting out of rocks.
Sweeting entered the event as the defending champion, winning her first career Pinty’s GSOC title at the Masters a year ago.
Team Homan have now qualified for the second of two new events on the Pinty’s GSOC calendar, the Champions Cup. The season-ending tournament features all of the top winners on tour and runs April 26 to May 1, 2016, in Sherwood Park, Alta.
Homan just missed out on being the first team to qualify for the Champions Cup after falling to Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland in the final of inaugural Tour Challenge Tier 1 to start the Pinty’s GSOC season in September.
Courtney, who is originally from Edmonton, is looking forward to playing in a Pinty’s GSOC event in her home province.
“I think it’s going to be an awesome event,” she said. “It sounds like a really exciting concept. I’m excited to have the world junior champs there. I just think it’s going to be a really unique thing and it’s great that we’ve booked our spot there.”
Earlier Sunday, Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen won the men’s Masters title to earn his sixth career Pinty’s GSOC championship.
Next up on the 2015-16 Pinty’s GSOC schedule is the National, running Nov. 10-15 at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa, Ont.
Miskew said she’s really excited for the National, which was previously a men’s invitational but has now expanded and will feature a women’s division for the first time.
“It’s so soon now so we just get to go home and have a little bit of a rest and recovery and then get back on the ice preparing for the next one,” Miskew said.
“We try to head into every event with the same thing in mind,” Courtney added. “We’re just focusing on the process, figure out the ice and make the shots as best as we can so we’ll celebrate this win but then we’ll put our heads down and work hard this week and get ready for next week.
“Quick turnaround and then off to Oshawa. That’s awesome, living the dream here. Curling is a great job.”
MEN’S FINAL RECAP
Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen has defeated Jim Cotter, of Vernon, B.C., 5-3 to win the Masters title Sunday.
McEwen led by one coming home and made the open draw to the four-foot circle to ice the game and win his sixth career Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title.
Team McEwen have now earned a spot to the season-ending Champions Cup tournament.
Cotter opened with hammer and drew to the button with his last rock in the first while facing a pair of counters in the four-foot circle to take a 1-0 lead. McEwen made his final throw in two through the port to hit and stick for one.
McEwen stole one in the third to take a 2-1 lead after Cotter missed his runback attempt to blank. Cotter held shot stone prior to his last throw and needed a piece of the button for two but it rolled heavy and he took just one to tie it. McEwen blanked the fifth and scored a deuce in six to go ahead.
Cotter was forced to score in seven facing two counters and hit and stuck for one.
McEwen was playing in his fifth final in the past seven Pinty’s GSOC events while it was Cotter’s first trip to a final since the 2012 Masters.
Team McEwen won their first Pinty’s GSOC title at the Masters in 2010 when the event was known as the World Cup of Curling.
SEMIFINALS RECAP
TRURO, N.S. — Defending champion Val Sweeting is off to the Masters final with a chance to make it back-to-back titles at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament.
Team Sweeting, from Edmonton, defeated Winnipeg’s Team Kerri Einarson 5-3 during Sunday morning’s semifinals at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre.
Sweeting got deuces in the first and third ends while holding Einarson to singles in two and three. Looking to add another two-pointer in five, Sweeting was unable to draw her last rock close enough to the pin to count for second stone and she got just one. Einarson blanked the sixth end, settled for one in seven but ran out of rocks in eight.
“It’s nice to open with a deuce but they had an unfortunate miss, it was a pretty open end,” Sweeting said. “It was nice to get comfortable. I thought we played really well as a team. We kept our rocks in pretty good spots. If the one shot was a little bit off then we made the next one so it just felt like a really good game out there.”
Team Einarson won their first title together at the Tour Challenge Tier 2 in September to earn a spot in the Masters.
Team Sweeting goes up against Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan, who won 7-5 over Kristy McDonald’s team from Winnipeg. McDonald fell ill before the semifinals and her team was forced to compete with just three players.
Homan scored four in the first to jump out to a 4-0 lead. The teams alternated singles through two and three and Team McDonald took another point in four and stole one in five to narrow the gap 5-3. Homan got two in the sixth and Team McDonald matched with a pair in seven but ran out of rocks in eight.
Team Homan, who finished runner-up at the Tour Challenge Tier 1, roll into the final with an unblemished 6-0 overall record at the Masters.
“They’re going to start with hammer because they had a better record,” Sweeting said. “Just play well and keep our rocks in great spots as we did in this game and it should be a good game.”
Homan is a two-time Masters champion as she aims to win her third title in four seasons.
On the men’s side, Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen meets Jim Cotter of Vernon, B.C.
McEwen held on to win 5-4 over Tour Challenge Tier 1 winner Kevin Koe of Calgary while Cotter took down Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock 8-3.
Koe opened with hammer but gave up a steal of one in the first. After Koe took two in the second to pull ahead, McEwen faced three counters with his last rock in the third end and made the open draw for a single to tie it 2-2. Koe reclaimed the lead with a single four.
McEwen blanked the fifth and capitalized in six with a three-ender. He forced Koe to attempt a triple takeout that only eliminated one and McEwen made the open draw.
McEwen nailed both of his skip stones in seven to avoid giving up multiple points and Koe went for the blank.
Koe had a chance to score two or three with his final shot but had to rush with just a couple seconds left on the clock as he slid out of the hack and he only got one.
Meanwhile, Cotter settled for one in the first and stole points in the second and third ends to jump out 3-0. Laycock took two in the fourth but his final shot in the fifth was too thin and Cotter capitalized making the draw for four. Laycock was forced to a single in six, Cotter added another point in seven and the teams shook hands.
Team Cotter won the Tour Challenge Tier 2 event in September to earn a berth in the Masters.