With only four games national junior women’s curling playdowns, Angela Lee’s Stratton rink had their record fall to two and six by press time after losing a squeaker to Suzanne Gaudet’s PEI team this morning.
Both teams jumped onto the ice with impressive scores at the beginning of the game, with PEI taking three rocks in the first end and Lee’s rink taking four the second.
Lee said the scoring after that went back and forth between the two teams at one or two points an end.
“We were right in the game but we had a couple of misses in the tenth end and they got right set up for the game,” Lee said, noting PEI stole its last point in the tenth to win.
“It was a really tight game,” she added.
Lee noted her team, made up of Lisa Bolen (third), Danielle Shrumm (second), and Sarah Boily (lead), has managed to stay close to their opponents, with the past three games all determined by one point.
“We usually stick really close through the game, then we give up a bad end,” Less said. “If you give up a bad end near the end of the game, it’s tough to recover.
“We’re just not getting a break at the end to win,” she added.
Lee’s rink also had to square off against Julie Reddick’s Ontario rink at 9 p.m. CST last night, with results unavailable as of press time.
The Stratton foursome then play one game today and two more tomorrow before regular play comes to an end, Lee said, making their chances of making it to the National finals look pretty slim.
“There’s a couple of teams with no more than two losses,” she said. “Quite a few teams with five, six and seven wins.”
Lee said the team is beginning to feel some pressure with each game being important to win if the girls hope to make it to the finals.
“It’s mentally straining,” she said. “Especially my team, with the first time all of us are here and some are first time playing in the junior ladies.
“You try and forget about the game before and just try and focus on the one game [you’re in],” Lee added.
Winning their last four games and finishing near the top three would be a perfect way to end the tournament, but Lee said her team isn’t going to kill themselves to do it.
“We have to think realistically,” she said. “It would be nice to have a few more wins but we’ve been pretty happy staying with those top teams–giving them kind of a scare by taking it to the 10th end.”