Gold in their sights!

Team Peterman/Gallant advances to Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials final

LIVERPOOL, N.S. — Two players who’ve tasted Trials success in the past will get another shot at wearing the Maple Leaf at the Winter Olympics on Saturday.

The Chestermere, Alta., duo of Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant are headed to the gold-medal game of the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials after winning the Page 1-2 playoff game Friday night at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool, N.S.

Both won Trials finals in four-player curling in 2021 in Saskatoon and went on to play at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

And while there is still work to be done — not the least of which is Saturday’s 2 p.m. gold-medal game in Liverpool — the Olympic dream for the married couple is tantalizingly close to coming true after an 8-5 win over Team Lisa Weagle/John Epping (Ottawa/Toronto) Friday night.

“I’ve played in a couple of (four-player) Trials finals and I’ve been on both sides of it (a loss in 2017 and the victory in 2021) and you know that both teams are going to be giving it their absolute all,” said Peterman. “We’ll be coming out hoping to do the same.”

Whom they’ll face is yet to be determined. Team Weagle/Epping will get its second opportunity to advance by playing in Saturday’s 10 a.m. semifinal against Team Rachel Homan/Brendan Bottcher (Beaumont, Alta./Spruce Grove, Alta.), who sailed to an 8-3 win over Team Brittany Tran/Rylan Kleiter (Calgary/Saskatoon) in the Page 3-4 playoff.

The 1-2 showdown saw the undefeated Team Peterman/Gallant start slowly, forced to singles in the first and third ends while giving up a deuce in the second.

The game turned dramatically in the fourth and fifth ends. In the fourth, with Team Weagle/Epping sitting three with last rock, Peterman made a tough double takeout with her final stone to sit shot, and Weagle’s open hit for two was wide, making contact and then rolling out, leaving Team Weagle/Epping just a single.

“Oh, that was huge,” said Gallant. “I tried to clear as many as I could with my last, and still left a couple. So for her to make that double (was important).  They had still a hit for two and we were fortunate that we got a miscue there to force them to one, but it was just looking like a scary end, and they had all the momentum. So I think that double was a big momentum changer for us and got us going for the second half.”

In the fifth, it was Gallant’s turn as he negotiated a narrow port to hit and stick; Weagle wrecked on a guard trying to remove the Gallant shot, and in the process exposed a previously guarded Team Weagle/Epping stone, allowing Peterman an open hit to score three.

The Albertans would add three more with the power play in the seventh to put the win away.

The past Trials finals,  as well as the Olympic experience, may be a factor on Saturday, suggested Gallant.

“I think having that Olympic experience, it makes you want it a little bit more, but I think until you get the opportunity to go, you’re always wondering when’s your last chance going to be to actually get there,” he said. “We’ve had that experience under our belts, and I think it takes a little bit of the pressure off us maybe going into (Saturday), but we still want it. We still want it bad.”

The 3-4 game was a measure of revenge for Team Homan/Bottcher, whose only round-robin loss came at the hands of Team Tran/Kleiter.

The game was never in doubt. After holding Team Tran/Kleiter to a single in the first, Homan took advantage of Tran being light with her last stone of the second and drew for three.

Team Homan/Bottcher then proceeded to steal deuces the next two ends to put the game out of reach and set the stage for the semifinal showdown with Team Weagle/Epping.

“I mean, everyone here is phenomenal,” said Homan. “They’ve proven themselves this week, and we have to just focus on our game and make sure we come out strong.”

The winning team on Saturday will represent Canada at the 2025 World Mixed Doubles Championship April 26-May 3 in Fredericton, N.B.

That event also will decide most of the countries that will compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, and if Canada qualifies for the Games, it will be the Trials winner in Liverpool who will wear the Maple Leaf in Italy.

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials are available by CLICKING HERE.

Streaming for the Trials will be available on Curling Canada’s YouTube channel.

Ticket information for the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials is available by CLICKING HERE.

This story will be posted in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2025mixeddoublestrials/nouvelles/?lang=fr