Homan in control, Einarson executes jailbreak win at Scotties Tournament of Hearts

THUNDER BAY, Ont. - While Rachel Homan's curling team cruised to a fifth straight win at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Kerri Einarson wriggled off a hook to escape with a win Tuesday.

Four-time Canadian champion Einarson trailed fellow-Manitoban Kate Cameron 7-2 after five ends.

After giving up a steal of two in the fifth end, the experienced Einarson constructed a comeback with three points in the sixth and eighth ends and two in the 10th while holding Cameron to single points.

"It was a roller-coaster out there," said an elated Einarson, who lost to Kerry Galusha of Northwest Territories in an extra end in the morning draw.

"After I made the shot for three the first time, I had a really good feeling we're going to come back and win it. So we just stuck together."

Einarson (3-2) still had work to do in a tough Pool B, but after struggling with draw weight a lot of the day, pulling out what seemed an improbable victory felt like a jailbreak to the skip.

"Oh my God, does it ever," Einarson said. "So great."

The top three teams in each pool of nine at the end of the preliminary round Thursday advance to the round of six. The four Page playoff teams emerge from that.

Sunday's winner at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ont., represents Canada in the world championship March 15-23 in Uijeongbu, South Korea, and earns $100,000 in prize money.

Homan controlled Pool A at 5-0 and was the lone unbeaten team left. Pool B continued to be a multi-horse race.

Nova Scotia's Christina Black endured her own drama in an 11-10 win over Galusha. Black and Danielle Inglis of Ontario were tied atop the pool at 4-1.

Black held her breath as Galusha attempted a runback for the win and missed by a hair.

"I almost threw up a little bit. It was really close," Black said. "That game, it was crazy. It was up and down. We're Nova Scotians. We don't quit."

Quebec's Laurie St-Georges (4-2) was in the playoff hunt after an 11-4 win over Newfoundland and Labrador's Brooke Godsland. 

Manitoba's Kaitlyn Lawes (3-3) beat Yukon's Bayly Scoffin to keep her team's playoff hopes alive.

There are no tiebreaker games. The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head result followed by the cumulative results of last-stone draws that precede each draw.

Lawes reached the playoffs last year in Calgary with a 4-4 record, but the best last-stone draw numbers among the five teams tied for third with that record. 

Her team ranked first in last-stone draw in Pool B in Thunder Bay.

"There's still some games left, but if we can keep having a good draw to the button and try and find two more wins, that would be great," Lawes said.

Meanwhile, Homan was virtually, it not mathematically, assured a playoff spot after a 7-4 win over New Brunswick's Melissa Adams in the afternoon draw.

In the four years the Canadian women's curling championship has been an 18-team affair, only once has five wins not been enough for the playoff cutline.

It happened to be Homan's team in 2023, with six wins in their pool, that shut the door on teams below it.

"We're pretty close to playoffs," Homan concurred. "Just have to keep getting better.

"It wasn't a great performance today, so just need to keep building as the week goes on. Just learn the ice a little bit. We had lots of curl yesterday and then lost it all today. I guess just keeping up with the draws as they go."

Homan, vice Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes out of the Ottawa Curling Club extended their run of wins in the tournament to 17.

Homan is the only woman to have skipped teams to unbeaten records twice in the tournament (2014, 2024), but running the table in back-to-back years wasn't a priority for the 35-year-old.

"It's never on my mind for sure," she said. "It doesn't really matter. At the end of the day, we want to be in the final and we hope to make more shots than the other team, but we're a long ways away from that right now, so just focus on what you need to do now to come out tomorrow strong."

Homan takes on B.C.'s Corryn Brown (4-1) on Wednesday morning.

Alberta's Kayla Skrlik was 4-2 with a 10-5 doubling of Nancy Martin that dropped Saskatchewan to 3-3.

Alberta's Selena Sturmay was 3-2 after a 9-4 win over Prince Edward Island's Jane DiCarlo.

Northern Ontario's Krista McCarville won a second straight games to get to 2-4. Her team doubled Nunavut's Julia Weagle 8-5.

N.W.T. was 2-3, Yukon 1-4 and Newfoundland and Labrador 0-6 in Pool B.

New Brunswick was 2-3, Prince Edward Island 1-4 and Nunavut 0-5 in Pool A. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2025.