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(Posted
6 p.m., Jan. 24)
Homan
skips Team Ontario to Canadian Junior Curling Championship
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans
Online The
second time was the charm for Orleans skip Rachel Homan and the rest of Team Ontario
on Sunday as they captured the Canadian Junior Curling Championship with a 7-5
win over B.C. to become the first team to go through the tournament undefeated
in 20 years. For
Homan, third Emma Miskew and lead Lynn Kreviazuk, Sunday's big win was sweet redemption
after they lost to Manitoba in last year's final. 
The
fourth member of last year's team, second Alison Kreviazuk, had to cheer from
the stands on Sunday due to the fact that she was no longer age eligible for the
18 and under tournament. Her replacement, Laura Crocker, was solid at second stone
while the rest
of the team were named First Team all-stars. Having
finished the round robin portion of the tournament in first place with a perfect
12-0 record, the Ottawa Curling Club foursome began the final with the hammer
and used it to blank the first end. Homan
made a perfect draw to the button in the second to score two and take the early
2-0 lead.
A soft hit and stick on Homan's final stone in the third, forced B.C. skip Dailene
Siertsvon to either draw to the four foot for a point, or attempt the angle double
on two Ontario stones to either count two if the shooter stuck around or one if
it rolled out. Siertsvon
tried the double and only manged to chip one of Homan's stones out of the rings
allowing the Ontario rink to steal a point. Siertsvon
made an angle raise takeout on her first shot in the fourth to lie two. When Homan
came up light on her freeze attempt with her last stone, the B.C. ship was able
to hit and stick to count three and tie the game. Homan
had to draw against three B.C. stones to salvage a point in the fifth end. In
the sixth, she made a difficult raise takeout against the advice of Team Ontario
coach Earle Morris to lie three, which forced Siertsvon to try an even more difficult
tap back to the button to prevent a big end for Ontario. When
the B.C. skip hit the rock with a little too much weight, it sailed through the
four foot to give Ontario a steal of three and a huge 7-3 lead. "We
could have drawn but we kind of like the risk and reward," Homan said after
the game about the pivotal sixth end. "Maybe get a steal of one or hit it
exactly right and steal three. It was a tough shot for her for one and it was
a little heavy. But they played really well the whole game. We had to throw runbacks
to even get points." After
B.C. was forced to score a point in the seventh, Homan took advantage of a miss
by Siertsvon in the eighth to score a deuce with the hammer and take an insurmountable
five point lead. Homan
slammed the door on any any chance of a B.C. comeback in the ninth with a great
double takeout which forced B.C. to take a point. Up
9-5 with the hammer, Homan and company simply had to force B.C. out of rocks with
takeouts to earn a berth in the World Junior Curling Championshps in Switzerland. "We're
so excited (about going to Flims). We're going to prepare these next few months
and try to bring back gold for Canada," Homan said after taking the prerequisite
photos with the championship trophy. (This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local
business partners.) Return
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