Calvert ends Scotties week on winning note

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This article was published 17/12/2021 (1388 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CARBERRY — One of the loudest cheers of the week at the 2022 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts came on Friday afternoon.

That occurred when Alyssa Calvert’s Carberry rink wrapped up their provincial women’s curling championship week with a 5-4 upset win over Darcy Robertson’s previously unbeaten squad at the Carberry Plains Community Centre.

“The support we got today and the whole week has been absolutely amazing,” second Pam Robins said. “The encouragement and cheers we’ve had from everyone in the stands has been so positive, whether that’s from our family to the little kids who have come out to watch us. It doesn’t get any better than that.

“You make a draw to the four-foot and the whole place erupts in the middle of the afternoon,” Calvert added. “We’re pretty fortunate to not just live here but also be able to play in a Scotties here.”

The Calvert team (1-4), which also features third Stacey Fordyce, lead Roz Taylor and alternate Tanya Enns, posted a 1-4 record to finish in a tie for fifth place with Neepawa’s Terry Ursel in the Asham Express Red Group this week.

After dropping a 9-4 contest to Beth Peterson Wednesday afternoon, the rink lost by a single point in their meetings with Kristy McDonald (5-4), Mackenzie Zacharias (6-5) and Ursel (8-7).

“Other than our game against Beth, which really came down to one bad end (when Peterson scored three points in the seventh), our other matches went right down to the last rock,” Calvert said. “The unfortunate thing for us was the fact that we didn’t have the hammer in any of those games, which is such a big thing at this level. 

“We also came across some really hot skips who made their shots at the end to win. As we said to each other coming into this last game, we could have easily been 3-1 instead of 0-4 if some things had worked out in our favour.”

“We were also playing against teams that have been playing together a lot longer than we have and that have been on arena ice more often than us,” Robins added. “I thought we did pretty well out here for being a bit of a newer team.”

Calvert carried the momentum that she had built up during the week into their her game, picking up a big two points in the ninth end to break a 3-3 tie.

Although they didn’t have the hammer again coming home, the Carberry rink made their shots and left Robertson with a tricky takeout attempt on her last just to try and force an extra end.

“I think we did a really good job of staying patient today and we made our game a lot simpler,” Calvert said. 

“We were a little fortunate when Darcy hit a guard on her last in nine, which allowed us to get the two points on a draw and take the lead. We knew that it was still going to be a challenge in the final end with the five-rock rule and with how well both of us were playing.” 

While they missed on making it to the championship round, Calvert and Robins were proud of how the team played all week, especially with how they kept up a positive attitude.

“I’m just fortunate to be able to play with such wonderful teammates,” Calvert said. “This is probably the most fun I’ve had at a Scotties, even though we were 0-4 going into our last game.”

“Everyone has their own battles during the course of a game and we were putting in 150 per cent to help our teammates make their shots,” Robins added. “That much such a difference.”

While they aren’t sure what the rest of their season holds — especially as new restrictions are being announced due to the omicron variant of COVID-19 — the rink is hoping to get out on the ice a few more times before the season ends.

“To be honest, we haven’t really done a ton of thinking yet about next year,” Robins said. “It’s been pretty busy with the Scotties taking place here and the league we play in both here and in Brandon.”

“We love to take part in our home spiel in Carberry and some other funspiels,” Calvert added. “Lord willing, we’ll be able to do that, but you never know with how much things change in our world now.”

For more Scotties coverage, see Page B2. For full results, see Page B3.

 

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