Team Canada’s playoff hopes to be determined in final draw at Booster Juice World Junior Mixed Doubles

Canada vs. Ukraine

It took two stressful, dramatic comeback wins over Team England and Team Ukraine on Friday to keep alive Team Canada’s playoff hopes at the Booster Juice World Junior Mixed Curling Championship.

Nick Codner of Torbay, N.L., Dominique Vivier of Navan, Ont., and coach Laura Walker of Edmonton survived potential disastrous starts in both games at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton to emerge in a three-way tie for top spot in their pool.

The pair gave up four points in the first end to Team England in the afternoon draw and trailed 6-1 after four ends before recovering, ultimately scoring three in the final end for a 9-7 win. It started even worse in the evening when they gave up five in the opening end, electing to try a runback to eliminate some counters, only to miss and leave Team Ukraine’s Diana Moskalenki and Artem Suhak a simple draw for five.

Fortunately for Team Canada they jumped on two Ukraine misses in the second end to score five of their own.

“We don’t like to curl in the first end,” chuckled Codner. “I don’t think I’ve ever played a game of doubles where a five was scored and then a five was scored right back. We would have been happy to get three to keep ourselves in the game, but we made five great shots and we were rewarded for it.”

The latest win improved Team Canada to 4-1, tied with Team Switzerland and Team South Korea for top spot in their pool. The top two teams advance to the playoffs. Two pivotal games to decide the two teams advancing out of Pool C will see Team Canada play Team Switzerland and Team South Korea play Team Turkey, both at 12:30 P.M. (all times MT) on Saturday. A Team Canada win will put them in the playoffs.

“We’ve never taken the easy route when it comes to making playoffs,” said Vivier. “So this is exactly where we’re supposed to be. We’ve been in this situation in every single tournament we’ve played in, so it’s just another one.

“If we’ve shown anything the last two games it’s that we can come back from being down. These were great situations we were put into … we’re excited, we’re ready.”

“This is why you curl, to be in these opportunities,” added Codner. “To have every game come down to the last rock kind of sets us up for success. We know what the moment feels like. We’ve probably trailed in every game we’ve played this week and here we are 4-1.

“It just shows the kind of team we are.” Codner said of the comeback win over Team England. “We’re here to win and we’re going to fight to the last rock. We’re not going to lay down and roll over for anybody. We’re not quite there yet, not at the top of our game, but we’re getting better and better.”

“We went into this game not thinking we were going to lose,” added Vivier, “We are not losing today. We know we have to win out, there’s not really another option.”

The 29 teams in the event are split into four groups to play five days of round-robin competition. The top two teams in each division advance to the quarter-finals Saturday at 6 p.m.

Team Italy tops Pool A at 5-0, the United States leads Pool B at 5-0 and Team Denmark heads Pool D at 5-0. The second teams to come out of those pools will also be determined Saturday.

The semifinals go Sunday at 10 a.m. followed by the bronze-medal and gold-medal games at 3 p.m.

Select games are available to stream through Curling Stadium.

For the latest scores, draw and list of teams, CLICK HERE.

Canada vs. England

Dominique Vivier is not a fan of extra ends so when she had a chance to cap a stunning comeback for Team Canada Friday she executed her last shot perfectly for a 9-7 win that kept alive their playoff hopes at the Booster Juice World Junior Mixed Curling Championship at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton.

The hit-and-stick shot gave Vivier, from Navan, Ont., and teammate Nick Codner of Torbay, Newfoundland and Labrador, three and the win after falling behind 6-1 after four ends. The comeback, both youngsters said, showed their mental toughness and their determination to win.

“It was that mentality that I just cannot lose. I am not losing,” Vivier said of her mindset before throwing the final stone. “You have to make the shot, you have to win. I’m not a big fan of extras so if there’s a chance to win with my shot, I’m going to make the shot.

“It sounds so simple, you have to simplify it or you get too scared.”

Team England’s Chloe McNaughton and Matthew Waring pounced on Team Canada early, combining their own sharp shooting with another shaky start by the Canadians to score four in the first end. They stole one in the second and traded singles for the five-point at the break.

“My gosh we were locked down almost every end. We make a mistake and they made us pay for it the first half of the game,” said Vivier.

“We went into this game not thinking we were going to lose. We’re not losing today. We know we have to win out, there’s not really another option.”

But the pair needed every ounce of energy and mental toughness to stay patient and wait for their chance.

“Patience is huge and you really have to believe as well,” explained Vivier. “It’s hard to look at 6-1 and at the way they were playing. We knew we just had to get our rocks on the right side of the angles. We really had to work hard on keeping our energy up as well, It’s easy to get down when you’re looking at that score and looking at a team that was playing so well.”

Team Canada used their power play to its full advantage coming out of the break, jumping on two key half shots by Team England to score four and then steal one in the sixth to pull even at 6-6.

“It just shows the kind of team we are.” Codner said of the comeback. “We’re here to win and we’re going to fight to the last rock. We’re not going to lay down and roll over for anybody. We’re not quite there yet, not at the top of our game, but we’re getting better and better.”

The power plays were pivotal in Team Canada’s turnaround. After scoring four on their power play they held Team England to a single on theirs in the seventh end.

“We got a couple of misses (from them),” Codner said of the Canadian powerplay that switched the momentum. “I’ve been in the lead before and you can kind of feel it slipping away. We flipped the momentum and it worked out for us.” 

The win improved Team Canada’s record to 3-1, tied with Team South Korea for second place in their pool. Team Switzerland leads at 4-0 after a 7-3 win over Team Romania, 0-5. Team England fell to 3-2 followed by teams from Ukraine (2-3) and Turkey (1-4).

Select games are available to stream through Curling Stadium.

For the latest scores, draw and list of teams, CLICK HERE.