Einarson advances to semifinal, Jones in Scotties championship game

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This article was published 25/02/2023 (1145 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KAMLOOPS — Team Canada’s Kerri Einarson was in dangerous territory.

It didn’t matter that she went undefeated in round-robin action, Einarson found herself on the ropes.

After losing Friday night’s battle of Manitoba in a Page playoff seeding game with Jennifer Jones, Einarson had to outlast a red-hot Chrstina Black and Nova Scotia Saturday afternoon to stay alive and advance to Sunday’s semifinal at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Kamloops.

A loss would’ve sent Einarson back to Gimli, ending her dominant, historic run at curling nationals.

But the drive for four is alive and well as Einarson looked exactly how you’d expect the reigning three-time champion to look by dismantling Black en route to a 9-4 victory.

Einarson now plays Krista McCarville of Northern Ontario on Sunday afternoon in the Scotties semifinal. McCarville lost late Saturday to Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones in the Page playoffs 1 vs. 2 matchup. Jones booked a spot in the 8 p.m. CT final and goes for a record seventh Canadian crown.

“It’s straight forward from here on out. Our backs are against the wall now and we have to win so we just went out and got it done,” said third Val Sweeting. “I think we were just calm and confident today.”

Einarson was brilliant, shooting a game-high 96 per cent. Black’s clutch draws carried Nova Scotia to the final four, but every time she made a big shot on Saturday, Einarson answered right back.

“Kerri’s fearless. Absolutely fearless,” said Canada’s coach Reid Carruthers. “Especially when she’s feeling it, she’s calling doubles that I would question myself, like, whether or not I would approach them. But that’s what makes her so good.”

It was one bad end that put Canada in this situation in the first place. Einarson coughed up four points to Jones in the second frame on Friday. Einarson fought back to make things interesting, but it was too much to overcome, and they lost 7-6.

Despite winning Pool A with an 8-0 mark, that one loss to Jones forced Einarson to win a do-or-die game just to reach the semifinal.

“Yeah, it’s definitely a different format, but now our backs are against the wall,” said Einarson, repeating the team’s favourite phrase.

“I know with us that we never let up and we never give up. We’re just going to keep grinding it out and playing like we know we can. I think this was the best that we’ve played yet.”

Einarson, Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Harris have never lost back-to-back games at women’s curling nationals.

“Honestly, they very rarely lose two games in a row (in general). They’re one of those teams that when they lose, they get mad and then come out firing,” said Carruthers.

“Getting over a loss like we had (to Jones) where we got outplayed is one of the things that I think we do really well. We go back to the drawing board, talk about what we did well, talk about what we did badly and just try to improve on that. They just put the blinders on and set their sight on the task at hand. These ladies are awesome.”

Einarson’s teammates also brought their best stuff as they combined to shoot 88 per cent. Nova Scotia was nowhere near as sharp at 73 per cent. A pregnant Harris, who has a June due date, shot 93 per cent and never missed a beat while sweeping.

“She’s a champ, holy smokes. She’s got a little one in her and it’s motivating her just to push through,” said Einarson.

“It’s pretty amazing to see that. I know I don’t think I could do it.”

With two more wins, Einarson’s team will be the first since the Colleen Jones dynasty (2001-04) to win four straight Scotties crowns. They took a similar path last year as they lost a championship round game against New Brunswick’s Andrea Kelly to fall to the Page 3-versus-4 match. Einarson responded by winning three in a row, including a 9-6 victory over McCarville in the final.

“If we play like (how we did today), I think we should be OK,” said Einarson.

Team Manitoba advances to championship game, Einarson set to play McCarville

It wasn’t the prettiest win of her career, but Jennifer Jones was all smiles after Saturday night’s Page 1-versus-2 playoff game.

With an 8-5 victory over Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville, Jones and her Team Manitoba teammates — third Karlee Burgess, second Emily Zacharias, and alternating leads Lauren Lenentine/Emily Zacharias — are off to the Scotties final (8 p.m. CT).

“Coming into the week, we knew it would be a long week, but this was our goal,” said Burgess. “We’re in the best spot that we can be and I’m super excited.”

McCarville will now have to take the long road to the big game and play Canada’s Kerri Einarson in this afternoon’s semi-final (2 p.m. CT).

It’ll be the first time McCarville, who shot just 60 per cent against Jones,  and Einarson meet this season.

For Jones, she’s now one win away from becoming the first seven-time national champion. She currently shares the record of six career Scotties crowns with Colleen Jones and former teammate Jill Officer.

Alberta’s Randy Ferbey owns the all-time Brier record with six championships.

“It doesn’t feel different because of (the record), but it just feels different because as you get closer to the end of your career, you never know when it could be the last,” said Jones postgame.

“That, for me, feels a little bit different, and our youngest daughter doesn’t remember any real curling so it’s fun that this has happened, and she can remember and be in the moment.”

The first end started promising but ended in disaster Jones. The team’s rock placement was on point, and they were in line to score four, but a crucial miss by the veteran skip led to a five-point swing with McCarville starting the game with a steal. McCarville led 3-0 after three ends before Jones responded with a pair in the fourth and a steal in the fifth to tie the game and grab the momentum.

“When we’re under pressure, we’re pretty good as a team. I think these last three games have probably been (some) of the biggest games of our lives, obviously not Jen, but it’s been a really high rollercoaster because we’ve played three such tight games,” said Burgess.

“I think we’re in it to win it so we’re ready.”

Jones has history at her fingertips, but the chance to help her young teammates win their first Canadian women’s title is what has her most excited.

“That would be a thrill of a lifetime for me. I just love them so much and I just want great things for them,” said Jones. “If we can go out and play well tomorrow, that will be good enough for us. But if we could stand on top of the podium, that would be the thrill of a lifetime.”

Scotties names tournament all-stars

The Scotties unveiled this year’s tournament all-stars on Saturday. All-stars are determined by a combination of media vote and playing percentages.

FIRST TEAM

Skip — Kerri Einarson, Can

Third — Val Sweeting, Can

Second — Shannon Birchard, Can

Lead — Sarah Potts, NO

SECOND TEAM

Skip — Rachel Homan, Ont

Third — Laura Walker, Wild Card no. 1

Second —Emma Miskew, Ont

Lead — Briane Harris, Can

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31