CANADA STEALS WIN OVER GERMANY

HALIFAX’S MacNUTT COMES FROM BEHIND TO STAY IN CONTENTION 

The Canadian women stole their way out of a potentially troubling situation at the World Junior Championships in Italy, Monday, completing a dramatic comeback in an extra end over Germany. 

Halifax’s Ally MacNutt, Maria Fitzgerald, Alison Umlah, and Grace McCusker dropped their first game of the day, 11-8, to Sweden and were hoping to avoid a third loss in the tournament – especially this early in the week. 

“We came off a tough battle this morning with Sweden,” said Canadian lead McCusker. “We knew we had to tighten up some things for tonight. We really tried to have a good re-set between games.” 

After a hard-fought first half, Germany (skipped by Sara Messenzehl) took four points in the eighth, which gave them a three-point lead with two ends to play. The Canadians were able to take two in the ninth, and steal one in the tenth, forcing an extra end – where they would need to steal again. 

Several well-placed guards from Canada set up the perfect steal, and some misses from Germany allowed MacNutt to slam the door with a draw to the top of the four-foot with her last shot.  

Germany’s fourth thrower Kim Sutor still had a chance to draw to the side of the button with her last, but slid heavy, giving Canada the steal of two and the win. 

“That extra end win was huge for us,” said McCusker. “The round robin is long and we know we’ll have some ups and downs. We just have to keep playing them one game at a time, and really keep that mindset.” 

The Canadian women will have a day off on Tuesday, a perk that the Canadian men (skipped by Calgary’s Kenan Wipf) enjoyed today. They’ll resume the tournament on Wednesday with games againt Italy and China. 

The team, coached by Teresa Breen and team leader Helen Radford and supported by Cailey Locke as alternate, currently sits at 2-2 in the standings, tied for fourth place.  A third loss won’t likely eliminate the team from playoff contention, but it’s a position the team doesn’t want to be put in early in the week. Only the top four teams in the ten-team pool advance to the playoffs. 

“We’re feeling good going into the day off,” said McCusker. “We’re just going to try to carry that momentum into the second half of the round robin.” 

For scores and schedules, visit the World Curling site here: https://livescores.worldcurling.org/wjcc/default  

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