Team Canada Junior Women are “Unstoppable”

Taking advantage of hammer in the first end, Canada’s Junior Women came out strong and scored 3 points to take control of their game against Norway at the 2012 World Junior Curling Championships in Oestersund, Sweden. “From the moment the team stepped on the ice, they were unstoppable,” reports National Team Coach Melissa Soligo. The opening 3-point end was just the beginning. Team Canada continued to pressure the Norwegians, setting up steals in the next two ends.  Skip Jocelyn Peterman had the ice figured out, says Soligo, and the team as a whole also had great draw weight throughout the game, which made a huge difference in rock placement. “The little mistakes that the team made yesterday were eliminated in this game,” says Soligo.  “Norway had to work very hard to get any points.” Norway was able to score a single in the fourth, but Canada bounced back with another huge 3 in the fifth. A miss by Peterman in the sixth resulted in a deuce for Norway, but by then the score was 8-3, with Canada in control. Fifth player Nadine Chyz replaced lead Kristine Anderson in the seventh end, and after Team Canada scored another 2, the Norwegians shook on a 10-3 Canadian victory. “We’re really happy with our draw weight and with the ice,” said Peterman after the game.  “Hopefully, we can keep playing like this and throwing the way we are.” With this win, Team Canada’s junior women (2-1) now sit tied for second place in the standings with five other teams behind undefeated Russia (3-0). After their game, Peterman and teammates Brittany Tran, Rebecca Konschuh, Kristine Anderson and Nadine Chyz, moved into the stands to cheer on their fellow Albertans, Brendan Bottcher and his junior men’s team as they faced Switzerland and tried to keep their winning streak going. “The girls were loud and cheered hard,” says Soligo. “I think everyone knew we were in the building!” Tomorrow, Canada will play Italy and the United States. News, live scores, galleries and video highlights can be found on the World Junior Curling Championship website.