SUMMERSIDE – Theresa Breen and her teammates from Halifax are proving seeding does not matter.
The rink from the Mayflower Curling Club in Halifax entered the 2017 Home Hardware Road to the Roar Pre-Trials curling event at Eastlink Arena as the 13th seed in the 14-team women’s field, but is off to a very respectable 2-1 (won-lost) start.
“It’s a great start,” said Breen after Tuesday afternoon’s 7-3 win over Shannon Kleibrink of Okotoks, Alta. “We are certainly thrilled with how we are playing so far, and we’ve certainly built upon what we started this season.
“We have worked hard to be here. It might be a surprise to some, but we are feeling pretty confident with how we are playing.”
Breen, third stone Marlee Powers, second stone Jocelyn Adams and lead Amanda Simpson were edged 6-5 by Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque in Tuesday night’s Draw 6.
Manitoba’s Kerri Einarson stole three points in the first and third ends in building an early 6-0 lead on her way to a 9-4 win over Darcy Robertson (1-2) of Winnipeg.
Einarson and Rocque, the only two undefeated women’s teams, both sport 2-0 records.
First wins
Two rinks recorded their first wins in the evening draw. Nadine Scotland (1-2) of Calgary stole a single point in the 10th end to get by Tracy Fleury (1-2) of Sudbury, Ont., 6-5 while Shannon Kleibrink (1-2) of Okotoks, Alta., downed Shannon Birchard (1-2) of Winnipeg 7-2.
The Road to the Roar features 28 teams – 14 men and 14 women. Two men’s and two women’s rinks will advance to the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings in Ottawa from Dec. 2 to 10 that will determine Canada’s four-person curling teams for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February.
Opening game
Breen, a two-time silver-medallist at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, opened round-robin play with an 11-6 win over Fleury on Monday night.
“Both games have been tightly played, and we’ve been able to pull away at the end,” said Breen after the game versus Kleibrink. “They have both been pretty tight games for the first eight ends.
“That’s what our team is all about, we stick with it, we don’t give up, keep putting pressure on the other teams, hope for a mistake and so far it’s been working for us.”
After the teams exchanged single points in the second and third ends with hammer, Breen stole a single point in the fourth and a deuce in the fifth to go into the break up 4-1. Breen had to make a clutch shot against three with her hammer shot on a Kleibrink rock that was biting top of the four-foot in the ninth end to count one. If Breen does not execute that shot, the game would have quickly taken on a different complexion.
“I’ve played Shannon for many, many years and she’s certainly a wily skip and they certainly played a terrific ninth end to put the pressure on us,” said Breen. “Fortunately, she gave me a bit of a peek that I would be able to hit it, and it all worked out.”
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