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Experienced Team Einarson taking the hard road again in pursuit of fourth straight Scotties title

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KAMLOOPS, B.C. – At this point it’s hard to picture a scenario that would rattle Team Kerri Einarson at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

The three-time defending Canadian women’s curling champions will play in the semi-final Sunday afternoon after controlling Nova Scotia’s Team Christina Black, 9-4, in the 3 vs. 4 page playoff on Saturday at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops.

“We never slipped behind the tee-line and let them off the hook,” said Einarson. “They were making a lot of draws in previous games, so that was our game plan going in, just not to leave those freezes for them.”

Canada will take on Northern Ontario's Team Krista McCarville in the semi-final after they dropped Saturday's 1 vs. 2-game to Manitoba's Team Jennifer Jones. 

Einarson shot a game-high 96 per cent on Saturday with her team, featuring third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Harris, shooting a collective 88 per cent.

“We never let up and we never give up,” Einarson said after the win. “We’re just going to keep grinding it out and playing like we know that we can. I think this was the best that we’ve played yet.”

The crew out of the Gimli Curling Club in Manitoba is looking to become the first team since Colleen Jones’ famous Halifax rink to win four consecutive Scotties titles.

When you’ve been in this position so many times – Team Einarson have a combined 48 Scotties playoff games – dealing with the stresses and pressure of the moment is a far easier task.

“It’s nerve wracking in the playoffs for sure, especially if it’s one of your first times in the playoffs,” said Birchard. “It’s definitely good to have that experience under our belts just to know that we’ve got what it takes to get through this game, get through the semi and all the way to the final and win the whole thing.”

Team Black reached the first round of the Scotties playoffs last year while Black and third Jennifer Baxter also made the semifinals of the 2018 Tournament of Hearts with Mary-Anne Arsenault.

"They're an incredible team and they gave us a few chances and we didn't capitalize,” said Black, who shot 69 per cent on Saturday after a very strong week of curling. “If they give you a little bit of a chance you better capitalize because they don't give you very many chances."

One of the stories of the week have been the higher numbers of pregnancies, including Harris, who is due in June.

“She is a champ. Holy smokes. She’s got a little one in her and it’s motivating her to just push through,” Einarson said of her lead, who shot 93 per cent against Nova Scotia. “It’s been pretty amazing to see that and I know I don’t think I could do it.”

This year’s run has been a mirror image of their 2022 Canadian championship in Thunder Bay.

After recording a perfect 8-0 round robin, Team Einarson lost to New Brunswick’s Team Andrea Kelly in the page seeding game which meant they needed to win the page playoff 3 vs. 4 game against Wild Card’s Team Tracy Fleury, New Brunswick in the semi-final and Northern Ontario’s Team McCarville in the gold-medal game.

It marked the first time in Scotties’ history that a team in the third playoff position ended up winning the Hearts title.

In Kamloops, the defending champions went unbeaten in pool play once again before dropping their first game of the week to Manitoba’s Team Jones in the page seeding round on Friday.

“This team doesn’t seem to do anything the easy way,” explained Einarson. “We never, ever have. Right from day one. If you can be on the ice a little more, learn it more than the others then that’s perfect.”

The difference in the 8-6 loss to Manitoba was a four-spot given up in the second end.

“We allowed ourselves to get mad and frustrated and just parked it and knew that today was new day,” said Birchard.

The 28-year-old second, who is looking to win her fifth career national championship, says they just have to keep a clear head the rest of the way.

“We just need to keep level heads out there. Not get too up or too down,” said Birchard. “We’ve been in this position before as have all the teams that are remaining. I think we just need to put the pedal to the metal and just keep pushing forward and get some momentum started tomorrow.”

Replicating what they were able to do against the Bluenosers will help too, says their skip.

“If we play like that, we should be okay,” said Einarson. “Just weight control and getting that draw weight. It’s really fast out there and utilizing our sweepers. I got amazing sweepers. They can hold a rock and can definitely make one curl too.”

The semi-final goes Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT on TSN1 and streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.