Englot rebounds with win over PEI’s MacPhee at Scotties

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This article was published 22/02/2017 (3460 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. — They may not have made it through the round robin undefeated, but Michelle Englot and Team Manitoba are now on the brink of seizing a playoff shot at the 2017 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

They haven’t clinched yet, to be clear. But the Granite rink improved their position on Wednesday morning, with a 10-2 win over Prince Edward Island’s Robyn MacPhee.

Not only was it a crucial bounce back game after Tuesday night’s wild loss to Team Canada, but it raised them to 7-1 on the week. With just three games left for Manitoba in the round robin, that’s a very good place to be.

Usually, a 7-4 record will earn teams at least a tiebreaker at the Scotties, if not better.

“That’s the magic number,” Englot said. “Usually. Sometimes… maybe not. So we could use one more.”

Plus, this one was a confidence-booster. After a slow start, Manitoba stole four in the fifth end to leap into a 6-2 lead. They never held hammer again, but collected four more stolen points before the teams shook after the eighth end.

Skip Englot shot 73 per cent — lower than she had earlier in the week, but better than she did in that error-marred Tuesday night match against defending champion Chelsea Carey. In both games, her team chugged right along.

“I’m struggling a little bit,” Englot agreed on Wednesday morning. “I need to get back to how I was throwing in the first few games. The girls are throwing great, and we had tons set up this game and put rocks in great positions.”

Now, the schedule gives Manitoba a golden chance to snag that eighth win. They’ll play Nova Scotia (1-5) on Wednesday afternoon; their remaining games come British Columbia (0-8) and Ontario’s Rachel Homan (8-0).

The headliner match between Ontario and Manitoba is set for 6:30 p.m. CST on Thursday, and will likely be the feature game on TSN.

Englot’s best previous finish at a Scotties came in 1988, when she made her first trip as skip of Team Saskatchewan. She finished the round robin 9-2, then lost in a semifinal to the eventual winner, Heather Houston of Ontario.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca