Team Peterson finally prevails in final

RIVERS — Kelsey Calvert has enough provincial finalist trophies.

She knew it’d take her best effort to avoid a fifth on Sunday, and that might not have been enough against an incredible Kaitlyn Lawes team. But the skip put Team Beth Peterson into position to have the hammer headed to an extra end, and suddenly won the RME Women of the Rings final 9-7 when Lawes tapped her stone onto the pin.

The back-to-back provincial women’s curling finalists soaked up their long-awaited championship moment.

“We’re thrilled,” said Calvert, who lost the 2019 and 2020 Alberta finals before moving to Manitoba in 2023 and now lives in Carberry, married to former world junior champion Braden Calvert.

“We’re pretty excited, we’ve worked hard for this. We don’t play a ton on tour; we focus on family a little bit too, but we work hard and we played really well this week.

“We said before the game, we keep putting ourselves in these games, hopefully we’ll win one. If we play well, we can win one, and it went down to the end.”

Lawes was counting one and tried to tap Peterson’s rock away, but ticked a guard enough to redirect her shot just enough to raise Peterson’s for a heartbreaking finish.

It was her only loss of the week after, going 5-0 in group play and routing Peterson 8-2 to reach the 1-vs.-2 Page playoff game, where she took down Kate Cameron 7-4.

“Super proud of our efforts this week. We had a fantastic time in Rivers and wouldn’t have thrown my last rock any different. Couldn’t have gotten any more unlucky,” Lawes said, adding the runback was also an option. “I played the shot that I thought would give us the best chance at getting two and the least risky, I thought. It was really hard to do what we ended up doing.

“To be able to hit the centre guard and still come straight back and tick them in, try and do that one out of 10,000 times.”

Like Team Lawes, which shook things up and started having third Selena Njegovan call the game last year, Peterson made a similar switch a few months ago.

But Calvert and Peterson fully traded roles on the team, which features Katherine Remillard at second and Melissa Gordon-Kurz at lead, and it has paid off.

Team Peterson went 4-1 in the group stage, losing to Cameron to draw the unenviable matchup with Lawes.

Losing that game meant they had to win three straight to make the final, but she blew out Lisa McLeod 8-2 and Dauphin’s Lane Prokopowich 10-1 to qualify for Sunday morning’s semifinal.

Peterson avenged the loss to Cameron, riding a massive steal of four in the fifth end to a 13-7 triumph.

“We said that after winning the semifinal, if we knew we were going to win this game, we always want to be in it, just because it keeps you loose,” Calvert said. “There’s always going to be nerves on Sundays of big events but if you know you’re going to win the semi, you want to play in it to be comfortable with the ice.”

After a routine blank in the first end, Lawes managed to spread three stones across the rings. Calvert tried to hit and roll behind cover to limit the damage to two, but stuck it, allowing the easiest three points anyone expected in a championship game.

But Team Peterson replied with a near-perfect end, getting two stones in behind cover and adding a third on Calvert’s first rock. Lawes tried to freeze against one to limit the damage to one or two, but left a quiet tap for Calvert to execute and tie it 3-3 through three.

Njegovan nearly whiffed a takeout in the fourth, allowing Peterson to sit three with no Lawes rocks in play. But this time, Lawes executed a freeze to a rock on the eight-foot to prevent Team Peterson from putting much pressure on her last rock. Needing full eight-foot, Lawes put it on the button for her single.

Lawes replied with a solid fifth end, forcing Calvert to settle for one to tie it 4-4 at the break.

Lawes had a well-guarded rock on the button in the sixth, then froze another onto Peterson’s stone in the four-foot. Unable to remove either without risking opening the door for Lawes to score another three, she essentially conceded the deuce.

That patience paid off soon after, when Team Peterson spaced three rocks out, leaving a low-percentage triple-takeout attempt for Lawes. She tried, but jammed it and only removed one, leaving Calvert to draw for a wide-open three once again to lead 7-6.

In the eighth, Remillard quietly made one of the best shots of the game, a double-peel with a roll to add a second guard to her rock in the eight-foot. That, along with a Lawes missed takeout, allowed Team Peterson to get two rocks in the house and force another single.

Team Peterson tried to set up another big end in the ninth, but Calvert was heavy with her first draw, allowing a huge Lawes double-takeout. But Calvert settled in and put her last rock on the lid to lead 8-7 coming home.

The teams strung five guards across the top in the 10th end, and Njegovan ticked one with her first takeout attempt. But she nailed an angle-raise-takeout with her second.

Calvert replied with a corner freeze. Lawes removed both stones, leaving one two inches from the pin, just behind the T-line.

Calvert drew a little less of the button, leaving the door open for Lawes to make a perfect shot to win, but she just barely missed.

Team Lawes, which also includes second Jocelyn Peterman and lead Kristin Gordon, does have a strong mathematical possibility of receiving the third and final wild card spot at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts, given her place as No. 5 in the Canadian team ranking system. The berth will be announced when all provincial and territorial championships are done.

“There’s a far-out chance but I’m not going to hold my breath,” Lawes said. “I’m going to be cheering hard for our champs; they played a great final.”

Team Peterson is off to nationals, taking place Jan. 23 to Feb. 1 in Mississauga, Ont.

“We wanted to put ourselves in it, give ourselves an opportunity,” Calvert said. “We’re thrilled to be able to represent Manitoba and give it our all in Toronto.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com