Loss on the last shot

Canada’s Kerri Einarson made some key shots when it mattered most during a morning game against the United States, but the team fell just short of earning the win. (Photo, World Curling Federation/Jeffrey Au)

Team Canada falls to United States in back-and-forth game at women’s worlds

Canada found a spark in the second half of its game but fell short of earning a second win at the 2023 LGT World Women’s Curling Championship, presented by New Holland, on Sunday morning.

Canada’s Team Kerri Einarson (1-1) lost to Team Tabitha Peterson of the United States (1-1) in a rematch of the bronze-medal bout from the 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championship, the event which determined the teams that would qualify for worlds in the newly formed Pan Continental zone. 

Tied at seven apiece, the Americans sealed the deal in the 10th end with a long straight-back raise takeout to score one and pick up an 8-7 win. 

Skip Einarson, vice-skip Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard, lead Briane Harris, alternate Krysten Karwacki, coach Reid Carruthers and national coach Renée Sonnenberg looked to be in an excellent position to steal the win in the final end at Goeransson Arena after making a hit-and-roll to cover the pinhole behind cover and with backing.

But Team Peterson mettled the win away from Canada with a bold long raise to pick out Canada’s counter.

“I thought we were close, but she was going to have a shot either way,” Einarson saidof her team’s final shot. “Maybe if [my shot] didn’t spin up too much, it could have been better, but then she’d just have a tap. She made a good shot, and at least we made her throw it.”

The United States started the game with the momentum of a downhill boulder courtesy of a near-perfect game from skip Peterson. The Americans opened the first end with a score of one and stole single points in the second and third ends. Team Einarson was always in contention in the first half, with the Canadians statistically outshooting the Americans at the lead through third positions. The team from the Gimli Curling Club in Manitoba scored in the fourth end on a hit for two, which closely shaved by a centre guard en route to the score. 

Canada lead Briane Harris watches her shot during the game against the United States. (Photo, World Curling Federation/Jeffrey Au)

American skip Peterson only had one missed shot in the first half of the game, which occurred on her team’s last shot in the fifth. After a clutch hit-and-roll by Team Einarson to sit one behind cover, the Americans attempted a high-weight double to score. Peterson’s thrown stone nosed the target and Canada tied the game three apiece at the halfway point. 

“Tabitha was getting them out of trouble and we also weren’t capitalizing on any opportunities we got. I had a lot of difficult shots and was just on the wrong side of the inch of them,” Einarson said.

The tides turned in favour of Canada during the second half of the game as Team Einarson made an all-important hit in the seventh end to score three and take its first lead of the North American battle. Canada capitalized on some misses, including a crucial error when Team Peterson rolled out its first skip stone. Einarson made two of her most crucial shots during the end. First, a come around behind centre guards to sit two, followed by the control weight hit to score the three.

However, the United States rebounded in the eighth with three points to regain the lead. Canada chased for its single point in the ninth with a tap to tie the game.

Canada is still sitting comfortably in the middle of the standings after opening the round robin with a victory against Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg (1-1) on Saturday. Canada aims to be sharper later today when it takes on Norway’s Team Marianne Roervik (1-0) at 2 p.m. ET. 

“The ice was different than yesterday and it was curling a lot more. We need to believe what we see out there,” Einarson said.

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TSN/RDS2, the official broadcast partners of Curling Canada’s Season of Champions, will provide live coverage of Canada’s round-robin games and all playoff games. CLICK HERE for their complete broadcast schedule.

The list of teams, schedule information and live scoring can be found on the event website.

The French version of this story will be posted as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/?lang=fr

Curling Canada