‘Experience’ key at junior nationals

Heading into their first-ever trip to the national junior women’s curling playdowns that wrapped up last week in Kelowna, B.C., Angela Lee’s Stratton rink knew experience would be an important factor in staying competitive.
That was especially true considering they were going up against some formidable opponents in the likes of Marie-France Larouche (Quebec), making her fifth trip to the nationals, and Meredith Doyle (Nova Scotia), a former Canadian champ.
Lee knew there would be some tough games.
But while those games against the top teams did prove to be tough, Lee’s crew–including third Lisa Bolen, second Danielle Shrumm, and lead Sarah Boily–could have won some of them despite their lack of experience at the national level.
In fact, though they wound up with a 3-9 mark to finish tied for 11th place with Jill Kelln (NWT) in the 13-team field, their record easily could have been 6-6.
Four different times, Lee’s foursome lost a game in the final end, including giving up a devastating five-ender in the 10th to Nicole Baldwin (Yukon) that erased a 7-4 lead in their final draw.
Earlier in the round-robin, there was a 9-8 loss to Suzanne Gaudet (PEI) where Lee let an 8-7 lead slip away by giving up one in the ninth and then a steal of another in the 10th.
Talk about tough losses.
But Lee also was mystified at the ones that quickly went from a close nail-biter to one that looked like a blowout–at least on the scoreboard.
Against Doyle, for instance, Lee was locked in a 4-4 tie after seven ends only to watch her opponent score a four-ender in the eighth and then steal four more in the ninth to make the final tally 12-4.
She also gave up big ends in losses to Kelln, Laura Strong (Newfoundland), and Julie Reddick (Ontario), the latter of which she let a 3-1 lead slip away by giving up a five-ender in the eighth.
Lee managed to claw back into the game with singles in the eighth, ninth, and 10th ends–only to lose it in the 11th after giving up a pair.
But it was her games against Quebec and Saskatchewan that proved Lee’s foursome could play with the top junior women’s teams in Canada.
Lee let a 4-2 lead slip away in the eighth end against Stefanie Miller (Saskatchewan) when she gave up three and then a steal of another in a tight 6-4 loss.
The very next game, Lee lost a tough 8-7 decision to eventual champ Larouche, who went on to win her first national title with a 9-2 romp over Doyle in Sunday’s final.
“We were just so proud of ourselves that we could give the top teams such a run for their money,” Bolen enthused, adding she can’t wait to get back on the ice to qualify for next year’s nationals in Moncton, N.B.
Lee admitted those losses against the top teams were the toughest.
“The big ends just seemed to happen to us, and in the big games against Quebec and Saskatchewan, they seemed to happen late in the seventh or eighth ends,” said Lee, still feeling the effects of the whirlwind experience of playing at the nationals after arriving home Monday.
“Those ends kind of killed us–we missed shots or made the wrong call,” she lamented. “Those ends hurt us more in a couple of games because we had control.”
Still, she said she was impressed at how well her young rink competed against the older, more experienced ones there.
“It definitely will give us more confidence for next year and I hope it will help us in the long run,” Lee noted. “Against the good teams, you can tell they’ve been there before because they are so much more relaxed in the high-pressure games.
“You notice the experience.”
“I think experience . . . helped so many teams because they’ve been [to the nationals] before,” agreed Boily. “But next year, the confidence of playing there will help us.”
Unfortunately, next year may be the rink’s final one together because two of the members may be heading off to university.
But until then, the Stratton foursome hopes to duplicate this season’s incredible run–and perhaps take it one step farther on the national stage next year.
Don’t bet against them.