Alberta takes down Team Canada to remain undefeated at Scotties

PENTICTON, B.C. – Casey Scheidegger may be a Scotties rookie but her Alberta team’s performance at the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts is that of seasoned vets in the granite game. The Lethbridge/Grande Prairie squad of Scheidegger, third Cary-Anne McTaggart, second Jessie Scheidegger, lead Kristie Moore, alternate Susan O’Connor and coach Carolyn McRorie lived up to its top seed in Pool B in the expanded 16-team format by rolling to a 10-6 victory over Team Canada skipped by Michelle Englot (Winnipeg) Sunday evening. Alberta joins Newfoundland/Labrador at 3-0. They meet Monday afternoon (2 p.m., all times Pacific). “It’s a good feeling, but we don’t want to get too big of heads. We still have a lot of games left. We’re just trying to keep rolling and stay confident,” said Scheidegger, 31. “We just have a really good handle on the ice, we’re communicating really well about the paths and knowing when the ice is changing. It held up great tonight to help us catch on and throw with confidence.” The big shot of the game appeared to be a long angle-raise takeout by Scheidegger to score three in the sixth end for a 7-3 lead. But she gave a trey right back the next end when Scheidegger doubled out her own two shot rocks instead of a Canada stone, allowing Englot to score three. In the eighth, she had to make a delicate draw just to score one to remain ahead 8-6. The deal was sealed, however, in the ninth when Englot sailed through the house on her last shot, allowing Alberta to steal two. “We had a lead and they came back on us, so that’s one we’re going back to the books as well and talk about tonight, but we still feel good,” said Scheidegger, a teacher in Lethbridge. Although this is its first trip to the Scotties, Scheidegger’s team got some intense competitive experience at the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings in Ottawa, where they went 3-4, but were in the running for a playoff spot until the end. “That trials experience was big for us in giving us some confidence playing here,” said Scheidegger. The Newfoundland/Labrador rink from St. John’s, skipped by Stacie Curtis, kept pace with Scheidegger by trouncing Nunavut’s Amie Shackleton (0-3; Iqaluit) 10-3 in eight ends. Curtis’s crew scored three in the third end, stole four in the fourth and got three more in the sixth for a 10-2 lead. In other Draw 5 action, Ontario’s Hollie Duncan (Toronto) outlasted Quebec’s teenage team skipped by Émilia Gagné from Alma 7-5, giving both a 1-2 record. That’s the same as Prince Edward Island and British Columbia after Robyn MacPhee of Charlottetown downed Kesa Van Osch of Nanaimo 9-5. The 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts continues with draws Monday at 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/

TSN and RDS2 (streamed on ESPN3 in the United States) will provide complete coverage of the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Go to www.tsn.ca/2017-18-curling-broadcast-schedule-1.593081 for the complete schedule.

For ticket information for the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, go to www.curling.ca/2018scotties/tickets/

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2018scotties/category/nouvelles/?lang=fr