Carey steals a win in Draw 6 at the Scotties

With a 7-3 win over Nova Scotia’s Heather Smith on Monday afternoon at Maurice-Richard Arena, Manitoba’s Chelsea Carey moves into a four-way tie for second place at the 2014 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. But it wasn’t pretty, according to the skip from the Fort Rouge Curling Club in Winnipeg. A general lack of sharpness had Carey shaking her head after the game. “I missed a bunch. Unforgivable misses,” she said. “Kristy made a good shot in nine to get the force set up and I finally made a couple of simple shots, but at least I made them.”
Chelsea Carey (Photo CCA/Andrew Klaver)

Chelsea Carey (Photo CCA/Andrew Klaver)

The game hinged on a miss from the other team as well. Tied at 3-3 in the ninth, Smith gave up a steal of four when her final draw slid through the house. “You never expect her (Smith) to miss a draw to the eight-foot, but I did it earlier in the game and she did it on the same path,” Carey said. “(We were) really lucky to win that game, but we had chances to set up a win earlier and we didn’t make them. I’ll have to be way better tomorrow.” Manitoba now joins Saskatchewan’s Stefanie Lawton, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Heather Strong and Alberta’s Val Sweeting in second place behind Team Canada. Of those teams, only Saskatchewan was in action on Monday afternoon. Lawton defeated New Brunswick’s Andrea Crawford 9-3, who was not able to climb back into the game after giving up seven stolen points. In other action, Sarah Koltun started strong and, for one end at least, had last year’s Scotties champion on the run. Uncharacteristic misses from third Emma Miskew and Homan allowed the team from Whitehorse to steal a single in the first end. But after that, it was all Team Canada. Homan continues to sit undefeated at the top of the standings after this afternoon’s 9-3 win. After getting her first win on Saturday evening, Kim Dolan seems to have found her stride. The team from Charlottetown, P.E.I., stole two, picked up another three in the fifth, and held off a late-game charge from Ontario’s Allison Flaxey to notch a 7-5 victory. “I felt we were in control most of the game,” said Dolan, who is backed by Rebecca Jean MacDonald, Sinead Dolan (Kim’s daughter), Michala Robison, alternate Jackie Reid and coach Nancy Cameron. “It’s tough defending. You’re up five and they get a little bit of momentum going and you’re fighting back, so it’s tough. The ice is great, we got a win, so we’re really happy.” The unique mother-daughter duo has been together for five years, and they say curling together is great, but they make sure to leave the game on the ice. “No, once we finish the game, I consider us teammates on the ice and mother-daughter off the ice,” says Dolan. The Scotties continues with draws on Monday at 7:30 p.m. and Tuesday at 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (all times EST). TSN/RDS2, the official broadcaster of the CCA’s Season of Champions, will provide extensive coverage of the 2014 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, with 66 hours of live broadcasts scheduled. The winner of the 2014 Scotties Tournament of Hearts will represent Canada at the Ford World Women’s Curling Championship, presented by Booster Juice, March 15 to 23 in Saint John, N.B. The 2014 Scotties marks the 33rd year of Kruger Products Limited’s sponsorship of the Canadian women’s championship. For ticket information, go to: www.curling.ca/2014scotties-en/tickets/ For schedule information, go to: www.curling.ca/2014scotties-en/draw-schedule/