Sister act smooth on ice

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This article was published 24/02/2021 (1882 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Zacharias sisters rarely bicker — believe it or not.

Certainly never on the ice during many years of junior curling together that culminated with a world title a year ago, says the younger of the two siblings from Altona.

“It’s funny because we’ve been playing together since I was probably less than 10 years old, so at the beginning there were definitely moments like that. But as we’ve grown as athletes and competitors on the ice, we’ve learned to just know what we need from each other and how to be there for each other, and we support each other 100 per cent,” second Emily, who fires second stones for big sis, Mackenzie.

“There’s never a moment where I’m really upset or think of her as my sister on my ice, because we’re both there on the ice doing what we want to do and we’re doing everything we can for our team. We look out for each other and we do what we can for each other.

“To look to her as a sister and a role model, and to be able to experience this with her, is at just another level,” she said, generating a grin from her 21-year-old skip, seated next to her during a Zoom chat with reporters. “It’s a really cool thing to be able to say I get to do it.”

Team Zacharias, with lead Lauren Lenentine and third Karlee Burgess, has gone through some ups and downs in its first appearance at the Scotties championship. The learning curve in the women’s game is, indeed, a steep one, as the second wild-card entry has quickly discovered inside the Calgary bubble.

Mackenzie drew for the winning point against three opposition stones in the 10th end to beat Jill Brothers of Nova Scotia 6-5 in Wednesday’s morning draw.

Late in the day, the 2020 national and world junior champions gave Rachel Homan’s Ontario crew all it could handle before bowing 8-6. Mackenzie delivered a highlight-reel shot to remember in the sixth end, executing a raise triple-takeout to post a deuce.

Team Zacharias (2-5) completes its inaugural Scotties against Krysta Burns of Northern Ontario.

Ultimately, their record this week is secondary to a feeling of acceptance.

“I didn’t have too many expectations coming in, like what to expect here because it was such a different year,” said Mackenzie. “Honestly, I know we’re not allowed to interact with the players much but they make us feel right at home here, they treat us like one of them and we’re meant to be here, and honestly I’m really thankful for that.”

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Kerri Einarson, the defending Canadian champion from Gimli, endured a strong press from winless Laura Eby of Yukon on Wednesday morning before seizing a 11-7 victory.

It wasn’t easy as the Whitehorse foursome stole a pair in the second end to lead the defending champions 3-0 and also went up 5-3 after four.

The Team Canada skip offered kudos to Eby’s crew, noting there’s no problem-free path at the Scotties.

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“They made some amazing shots out there and put some really big pressure on us. We’re going to have to make those pressure shots in our next couple of games. We’ve got some big ones ahead, so it’s definitely a learning curve out there,” Einarson said.

Added second Shannon Birchard: “This whole (time) leading up to the Scotties we’ve been dealing with adversity, so any kind of adversity we face is good to push through and get over.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell