Team Canada moves on despite loss at Scotties Tournament of Hearts

SYDNEY, N.S. – Defending champion Jennifer Jones and Team Canada (4-3, Winnipeg) joined the pack heading into the Championship Pool at the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Wednesday despite losing their final round-robin game. Jones, third Kaitlyn Lawes, second Jocelyn Peterman, lead Dawn McEwen, alternate Jill Officer and coach Viktor Kjäll, dropped a 7-4 decision to Team Wild Card (6-1, Lethbridge, Alta.) skipped by Casey Scheidegger. But Jones moved into the next round when Kerry Galusha of Northwest Territories (3-4, Yellowknife) gave up a steal of four in the second end and went on to lose 13-6 to Nicole Baldwin of Yukon (1-6, Whitehorse). With the two games on adjoining ice surfaces, Jones was aware that Galusha was losing badly. “Obviously we kind of knew what was going on, but you still carry your record forward so we really wanted to win,” she said. “Unfortunately things didn’t go our way, so our backs are really against the wall now. But we have been in that position before, so they still say we can curl tomorrow so we’ll come out and do our best.” Jones acknowledged that with three losses her team will likely have to go unbeaten in the Championship Pool to get into the playoffs. “We might be able to have one loss, depending on how it falls but I’d say it’s safest to run the table. I think that would be best bet.” Robyn Silvernagle and Team Saskatchewan earned their spot in the Championship Pool with a 7-3 win over Suzanne Birt of P.E.I. (5-2, Charlottetown). “We were focused and ready to go, but I guess knowing you have a second shot is a good feeling,” Silvernagle said of having the tiebreaker as a backstop in case they lost. “But we wanted to control our own destiny today and we did. We’re peaking as the week goes on. We had a shaky start with nerves and everything, the first Scotties for three of us, but we’re settling in and feeling well.” In the one game with no implications, Andrea Crawford and Team New Brunswick (3-4) beat Kelli Sharpe and Team Newfoundland and Labrador (1-6, St. John’s) 10-5. Alberta, Ontario and Northern Ontario advanced out of Pool A with British Columbia’s Sarah Wark and Manitoba’s Tracy Fleury playing a tiebreaker Thursday morning. The 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts continues Thursday with the tiebreaker draw at 9:30 a.m. followed by Championship Pool draws at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (all times AST). Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/ TSN and RDS2 (streamed on ESPN3 in the United States) will provide complete coverage of the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule. For ticket information for the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, go to www.curling.ca/2019scotties/tickets/ This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2019scotties/category/nouvelles/?lang=fr