Einarson scores first eight ender in Scotties history

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This article was published 21/01/2015 (3923 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINKLER, Man. — In just her first game at the 2015 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Wednesday, Kerri Einarson made tournament history.

The East St. Paul skip and her team stole — yes, stole — eight points in the seventh end of their afternoon game against Dauphin’s Tiffany McLean, to win 16-3. It is, as far as Curl Manitoba experts were aware, the first eight-ender in the history of the provincial women’s curling championship.

Einarson was surprised enough, after her second shot, to be laying eight in the house. She completed the feat when McLean’s hammer came in heavy, nipped one of Einarson’s rocks that was sitting in the four, and slowly ricocheted out to the edge of the 12 foot. With Einarson already up 8-3 after scoring five in the sixth end, that historic steal brought on the handshakes.

“I’ve never laid eight before,” Einarson said, moments after the win. “It’s pretty cool… this is my very first. I had a draw for eight once, but I gassed it… I think it was just that they were down five, and they were just trying to generate points, and some of ours were behind T. And yeah, we ended up stealing eight.”

Perhaps the seventh-seeded team of Einarson, third Selena Kaatz, second Liz Fyfe and lead Kristin MacCuish are getting something of a reputation for making headlines at Scotties — last year, they were outstanding as they surged unbeaten to the championship final, where they fell to Chelsea Carey.

That said, Einarson said her team isn’t going to get too hung up on the stunning start, or the buzz. “That’s all that matters, is moving forward,” Einarson said. “The eight just happened, and we’ve got lots of other games to go. Hopefully we can keep it going.”

Elsewhere in the afternoon draw, second-seed Jill Thurston beat Neepawa’s Tina Kozak 9-4 in their first game of the week.

Assinibone Memorial’s Joelle Brown beat veteran Janet Harvey 7-5, while Kristy McDonald survived a robust challenge from Winkler’s own Kaileigh Strath, stealing one in the 10th end to win 9-6.

Meanwhile, there were no surprises in the first of the opening day’s four draws.

Four familiar favourites began their buffalo hunt with wins at Winkler Arena. Reigning Olympic champion Jennifer Jones and her St. Vital team kicked off their Scotties with a 7-4 victory over Lansdowne’s Terry Ursel, fourth-seed Barb Spencer picked up an 8-3 win over Brandon’s Stacey Fordyce, and Assiniboine Memorial’s fifth-seed Michelle Montford dispatched Roland’s Colleen Kilgallen 8-5. Finally, Fort Rouge skip Darcy Robertson cruised 12-2 past Snow Lake’s Kelly Wiwarchuk in seven ends.

The first day of competition will continue in Winkler today, with draws at 4 p.m. and, after a break for the opening ceremonies, 8:15 p.m. The Manitoba Scotties continues through the week, with playoffs set to begin on Saturday night. The final is set for Sunday at 4 p.m.