Homan earns trip to another Scotties final

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CALGARY — A classic chess match settled on the last rock in an extra end.

It’s exactly what you’d expect to see in a battle between two of the best to ever slide out of a hack.

Unfortunately for Jennifer Jones, she missed.

The failed runback allowed Ontario powerhouse Rachel Homan to steal a pair to prevail 6-4 over the legend from Manitoba in the Page 1-versus-2 game at women’s curling nationals in Calgary.

Homan — undefeated this week at 10-0 — can now move ahead to Sunday’s gold-medal game (7 p.m.). To get another crack at the No. 1-ranked team in the country, Jones will have to get past fellow Manitoban Kate Cameron in the semifinal at 1 p.m.

Cameron beat Alberta’s Selena Sturmay 6-4 earlier in the day to secure a spot in the final three.

“I think that was a great battle and it literally could’ve gone either way. When it comes down to it, it’s always going to be last shot between Jen and Rachel in a big moment like this,” said Manitoba third Karlee Burgess, a second-team tournament all-star.

“I think they’re a great team and obviously, we came out and played well but we have to be just that much better if we play them again.”

Jones had Homan on the ropes with a 4-3 lead in the 10th. Homan was backed into a corner and needed a picture-perfect draw to tie the game and she did just that.

“It was a very hard draw. She made it perfect. I thought she was going to rub on the front a little more, but she kind of feathered it and made it perfect,” said Jones.

“It just felt a great game, back and forth. That’s what you want. It was a good game, fun to play, and hopefully we’ll come out and play like that tomorrow.”

Homan had only attempted one draw in the first nine ends.

“They had us in a pile of trouble every end. We stuck with it, and it was an unbelievable sweep by my sweepers to get it to the pin to continue the game,” said Homan. “We were on the right side of the inch today.”

Homan is now 5-0 against Jones this season, and 7-5 all-time when they meet at the Scotties.

The 34-year-old skip from Ottawa, who now lives in Beaumont, Alta., is one win away from her fourth Canadian crown and first since 2017.

“It’s just an unbelievable feeling to be able to beat Jen at her absolute best. That was a huge game, a battle back and forth that had everything,” said Homan. “It was just a very emotional game.”

Homan has won 15 straight and has just one loss this calendar year. Her overall season record is 48-5.

The 49-year-old Jones – who’s retiring from women’s curling at the end of the season — also had a miss in the fifth end that would’ve scored two. She ended the game at 74 per cent, while Homan was slightly better at 80 per cent.

That was Homan’s lowest shooting percentage of the week.

“That was one of the most entertaining games I’ve ever seen,” said Team Jones head coach Glenn Howard. “What I loved about it is both teams went after each other right off the bat. Both teams went out and wanted to win and got aggressive. I just thought it was super entertaining. Obviously, we’d like to be on the other side of it. We had our chances in the extra end, and it didn’t come out. Bottom line is we have to regroup.”

Cameron is 0-3 against Jones this year but is currently playing better than ever. She’s had to win four straight must-win games to make it to Sunday.

“From lead to skip, they’re all really good,” said Burgess. “We just have to make sure we bring our A-game and leave a shot for Jen to win.”

Jones won the Page 1-versus-2 game last year against Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville in Kamloops, B.C., before losing the Canadian final to Kerri Einarson.

“I’ve said for 20 years that if you know you’re going to win the semifinal that it’s always good to play in it,” said Jones.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

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Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

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