The Canadian Press
Donna Spencer
ST. CATHARINES, Ont.–Krista McCarville vows her Northern Ontario team is done with larceny, although it has been profitable for them.
Her Thunder Bay foursome led last year’s Canadian women’s curling championship in stolen points with 31, but it was the playoff round where they took thieving to spectacular heights.
Trailing in both games, McCarville stole three points over the ninth and 10th ends of a playoff win over Manitoba, then did the same in a semi-final victory over defending champ Jennifer Jones.
McCarville, third Kendra Lilly, second Ashley Sippala, and lead Sarah Potts out of the Fort William Curling Club later fell 8-7 to Chelsea Carey in the final in Grande Prairie, Alta.
McCarville prefers they not white-knuckle their way to wins in St. Catharines, Ont. this year.
“Just before we came here, we talked about that and why that happened,” McCarville said.
“We tried to figure out why did we play that much better after the fifth end.
“I think when our backs are against the wall, that’s just what we do,” she noted. “We pick up our game and play a little bit more sharp.
“We’re coming here this year to not start that way,” McCarville added. “We want to be sharp from the beginning.”
Northern Ontario was that early in last night’s game against Manitoba. McCarville was up 6-2 at the fifth-end break but squandered that lead in falling 8-7 to Michelle Englot.
Manitoba and Ontario’s Rachel Homan kept up their torrid pace at 5-0 to top the field.
Homan cruised to a 9-3 win over Nova Scotia’s Mary Mattatall.
“I’d give us 100 out of 100,” Homan said. “Not that we’re playing a hundred percent, but we’re doing everything we want to be doing.
“We’re going through the right steps and learning as we go along from our mistakes.”
Team Canada (Carey) downed B.C.’s Marla Mallett 6-2 to join Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories at 3-1.
Eve Belisle of Quebec edged Saskatchewan’s Penny Barker 8-5 to get to 3-2.
McCarville dropped into a tie at 2-2 alongside Alberta’s Shannon Kleibrink and Stacie Curtis of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mattatall fell to 2-3 while Mallett, Barker, and Robyn MacPhee (Prince Edward Island) were winless going into today’s action.
The top four teams at the conclusion of the round-robin Friday morning advance to the Page playoff.
Ties for fourth are solved by tie-breakers.
