LIVERPOOL, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA — Six women’s teams remain in contention at the Canadian Olympic curling pre-trials.

In Pool A, Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay, Ont., finished the round robin with five wins and one loss after defeating Penny Barker of Moose Jaw, Sask., by a score of 7-5 on Friday night at Queens Place Emera Centre. Barker was in a must-win situation but fell to fourth overall with three wins and three losses.

The teams traded a few single-point ends with each other, but McCarville scored the first deuce of the game in the fourth end and took control in the seventh end by stealing two after Barker’s draw was light and tight.

The win by McCarville, vice-skip Kendra Lilly, second Ashley Sippala, lead Sarah Potts and coach Rick Lang locked up first place for the team.

“It’s super exciting obviously. You know coming in that you want to get No. 1 and that second chance at making it, so we’re pretty happy to get that spot,” McCarville said. “We’ve had a few little blips out there, but I think every single competition you’re going to have that. I mean, just to come through and come No. 1 in our pool is pretty exciting.”

Jacqueline Harrison (5-1; Dundas, Ont.) needed a win combined with a McCarville loss to take the top spot in the pool. While that result wasn’t possible with the McCarville win, Harrison finished strong by besting Beth Peterson (1-5; Winnipeg) in her final game of the first portion of the event by score of 8-4.

Corryn Brown (4-2; Kamloops, B.C.) did not play on Friday but because of Barker’s loss she remained in the playoff picture and secured the third seed in the pool.

In Pool B, Sherry Anderson (4-2, Martensville, Sask.) finalized the playoff picture with its 9-4 win against Danielle Inglis (3-3; Mississauga, Ont.).

Inglis was in a must-win situation to force a four-way tie for the final playoff spot, with the tiebreakers falling in favour of her team. However, an Inglis miss and wreck on a centre guard in the eighth end provided Anderson with a draw for five and controlled the game.

With that result, Anderson, Suzanne Birt (4-2; Montague and Cornwall, P.E.I.) and Mackenzie Zacharias (4-2; Altona, Man.) all finished with the same record and were one win and one loss in games played against each other. Last stone draw distances broke the tie, with Birt claiming the top seed, Zacharias in second and Anderson in third.

Birt will play Harrison, and McCarville faces Zacharias in the crossover 1 vs. 2 games on Saturday. The winners will advance to the A-qualifier final, while the losers will play third-placed teams, Anderson and Brown, in the B-side bracket.

In other action on the ice, Jestyn Murphy (2-4; Mississauga, Ont.) defeated Kerry Galusha (1-5, Yellowknife, N.W.T.) by a score of 7-6.

On the men’s side, Tanner Horgan (6-0; Kingston, Ont.) defeated Michael Fournier (3-3; Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.) by a score of 8-7 in an extra end to eliminate the latter team from the playoffs.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2021.