Lawes beats the odds

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This article was published 22/02/2024 (793 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CALGARY — There were 16 different scenarios heading into Pool A’s final draw and only two of them had Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes advancing to the playoff round at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Lawes might want to buy a lottery ticket as she defied the odds to grab the third and final spot out of the group.

It came down to Thursday afternoon and the 35-year-old skip from Winnipeg needed to beat Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville and have Alberta’s Selena Sturmay defeat B.C.’s Corryn Brown to create a four-way tie.

Lawes, McCarville, Brown, and Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges all finished with 4-4 records, but the Manitoba provincial champions prevailed thanks to owning the top LSD (Last Stone Draw) ranking. The Scotties Tournament of Hearts has followed the World Curling Federation’s lead and no longer has tiebreaker games.

“It seems to be the way curling is going. I love tiebreakers, I wish it didn’t come down to a draw shot challenge,” said Lawes. “I wish there were tiebreakers. My heart goes out to all those teams that are on the other side of it.”

Lawes knows what it feels like to be on the other side as she experienced it at the 2022 Olympics when she played third for Jennifer Jones. The Canadian representatives were last in LSD and missed the playoffs as a result.

“It feels so good. We’ve been working really hard this year on that draw to the button… that was a huge priority for us,” said Lawes. “We didn’t really know how everything was going to fall, but I’m just so proud of the girls for hanging in with me and playing a tough, gritty game.”

They managed to put Wednesday night’s 6-5 loss to Canada’s Kerri Einarson behind them to get back on track against McCarville — a team that had made it to championship Sunday at the last two nationals.

“We were aware (of all the scenarios), but at the end, I even looked at Connor (Njegovan, the team’s coach and Selena’s husband) and said, ‘Are we in?’ just to double, triple check everything,” said third Selena Njegovan.

“We knew we had to win, have a good draw and we knew Alberta had to win. We tried to not look over on that sheet. When I heard the crowd erupt, I figured Alberta had won so we kind of just kept going and knew we had to pull it out.”

Team Lawes — which also features second Jocelyn Peterman and lead Kristin MacCuish — dug themselves a hole this week by losing three out of their first four. After their third loss, a 7-5 result against Quebec, they had a team meeting and Lawes assured everyone she was going to play better the rest of the way.

“The good thing about these girls is they get along so well and support each other so well. They just kept trucking along and we kept saying we’re like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. Eventually, Lucy won’t pull it away from us and we’ll connect at some point,” said Connor.

“The last two days, Kaitlyn kind of had that fire in her eyes that we need. She’s making smart decisions and putting us in a position to win every game. It’s been fun to watch. We’re very fortunate now that everything fell our way, but it’s nice to reset the records now. I don’t think anybody is going to be super excited to play us, especially with Kaitlyn playing so good.”

Lawes will play the loser of Pool A winner Sturmay and Pool B runner-up Jones (1 p.m. Friday) in the 3 vs. 4 qualifier game.

Jones finished at 6-2 after losing 8-4 to veteran Kerry Galusha of Northwest Territories (3-5). Sturmay, a Scotties rookie, has been the breakout star with her only loss coming against Newfoundland and Labrador’s Stacie Curtis.

The other 1 vs. 2 qualifier — also at 1 p.m. — features undefeated Rachel Homan from Ontario (Pool B’s top seed) and Einarson (Pool A’s No. 2 at 7-1). The loser of that star-studded battle will play Pool B’s third place squad, Manitoba’s Kate Cameron (5-3).

Cameron qualified at the buzzer by outlasting B.C.’s Clancy Grandy (5-3) in the night draw.

There was no room for error on Thursday as Cameron also had to beat Nova Scotia’s Heather Smith in  the morning to stay in the hunt. Her third, Meghan Walter, was feeling unwell and missed the game but returned for the win-or-go-home match with Grandy – a 7-4 win.

Lawes will have to win three straight to make it to Sunday’s final.

“I’m just really proud of this team because last year we lost in the tiebreaker so now we get to be in our first playoffs together,” said Lawes. “The end goal is 2026 (Olympics), and so for us to get more big games to play in this early in our quadrennial is huge.”

Manitoba going strong

Manitobans have no shortage of teams to root for heading into the final weekend of women’s curling nationals.

All four representatives of the Keystone Province – Kerri Einarson, Jennifer Jones, Kaitlyn Lawes, and Kate Cameron – have earned their way into the tournament’s final six.

Regardless of who ends up winning it all, it’s a remarkable accomplishment for the local curling scene.

“It’s super cool. It’s telling how tough the province of Manitoba is to get out of,” said Meghan Walter. “We’re all putting up a fight here this week and it’s great.”

For Lawes and Cameron, it’s their first time reaching this point as skips.

“Four out of six is a pretty good number. Everyone knows Manitoba has got such a strong women’s curling field and I’m glad we could join the other three,” said Cameron.

Lawes added: “It’s incredible. The teams in Manitoba right now are so tough. It just shows the depth and the talent in our province right now.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @TaylorAllen31