Einarson’s reign comes to an end at Scotties

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This article was published 24/02/2024 (589 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CALGARY — One of the greatest runs in Canadian curling history has come to an end.

Team Canada’s Kerri Einarson, the pride of Gimli, Man., has fallen short in her quest to win a record fifth straight women’s national title.

Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard, and lead Krysten Karwacki had their dynasty knocked over late Friday night in Calgary at the hands of fellow Manitoban, Kate Cameron.

New Bothwell’s Cameron prevailed 9-4 over the reigning champions in a 3 vs. 4 qualifier game on the elimination bracket. The other 3 vs. 4 tilt saw Manitoba’s provincial champion Kaitlyn Lawes get sent home by crowd favourite and Scotties Tournament of Hearts rookie, Selena Sturmay of Alberta, 8-5.

Einarson lost 8-4 to Ontario’s Rachel Homan — the only undefeated team in the field — earlier in the day in the 1 vs. 2 qualifier.

Manitoba still has two teams remaining as Homan will now play the legend from St. Vital, Jennifer Jones, today at 7 p.m. with a spot in Sunday’s gold medal game at stake.

Jones beat Sturmay 8-4 in the afternoon to punch her ticket to the 1-2 Page playoff.

“Yeah, it sucks. I guess it had to come to an end at some point. It is what it is, and we battled hard through all the adversity we had this week and I’m super proud of this team,” said Einarson.

After Einarson’s final rock, she hugged her teammates while the crowd at the WinSport Event Centre paid their respects with a standing ovation.

“That was a tearjerker. The support just means so much,” said Sweeting. “That sense of pride feeling kicked in. That meant a lot that the crowd stood like that and supported us, even in a loss.”

Einarson was dealt a blow on Day 1 when lead Briane Harris was deemed ineligible to compete for a reason that has yet to be revealed. Longtime alternate Karwacki ended up being a tournament all-star, but the team had to deal with a lot of questions regarding the Harris situation.

“I don’t know if that mattered. I think our team came out firing. Obviously, it would’ve been wonderful to play with Briane, but Krysten stepped up in a huge way,” said Birchard. “I don’t think we skipped a beat, it just obviously wasn’t in the cards for us today.”

“Yeah, it sucks. I guess it had to come to an end at some point … we battled hard through all the adversity we had this week and I’m super proud of this team.”–Kerri Einarson

This was Birchard’s sixth time competing in the Scotties but first time coming up short of winning it all. She filled in for Jones in 2018 to win her first gold.

“It’s gonna take a few days to process. I think regardless we’re extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished as a team so far with the four in a row and we really wanted to do it again this week.” said Birchard.

“I think just for me, it’s just a combination of emotions right now. We tried to block it all out this week and it’s just hitting me right now.”

Cameron will have to take the scenic route but she’s now three victories short of capturing her first Scotties crown. Up next is a date with Sturmay today at 1 p.m. Whoever wins earns a spot in Sunday’s semi-final against the loser of Jones-Homan.

She trailed Einarson 4-2 before rattling off seven unanswered points in the final five ends.

“Obviously, they’re a great team. They had a wonderful season, a wonderful last four seasons,” said Cameron. “We knew we had to play them at some point this week and we were a little nervous to play them in a do-or-die… and we came out really strong in the second half and I think that paid off.”

Cameron shot 88 per cent, while Einarson struggled at 71 per cent.

“It’s been an amazing ride for this team. When I put this team together, it was questionable how far we’d go and look at us today,” said Einarson. “We’ve learned so much over the years and I’m super proud of us.”

Cameron failed to reach the provincial final in Morden, but here she is now, with a young, first-year team, in the final four at nationals. They had to win two games on Thursday to be the sixth and final playoff team.

“We’re feeling really good right now. We’re playing relaxed and we’re just kind of sticking to one end at a time out there and hoping it goes the right way,” said Cameron.

“I think we’re feeling pretty good going into the weekend.”

It was an up and down week for Lawes who climbed back from a 1-3 start to get into the playoffs. Sturmay, the breakout star of the Scotties, controlled the entire game as she led 6-1 through five ends. Lawes had some clutch moments in the past few days but wasn’t her sharpest against the Edmonton product as she finished the elimination game at just 67 per cent.

“We went through a lot of adversity with losing some games early. I thought it showed a lot of character and we really came together as a team,” said Lawes. “It was really special to see us keep fighting every game.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

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