Saskatchewan second Jessie Hunkin (left) and lead Kara Thevenot during the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. (Curling Canada/Facebook)

By Britton Gray/CJME News Staff

Saskatchewan’s hopes of a Scotties championship dashed

Feb 21, 2020 | 4:16 PM

Saskatchewan’s pursuit of a Scotties Tournament of Hearts championship came to an end Friday.

Robyn Silvernagle’s Saskatchewan rink struggled with the ice throughout its afternoon game against Ontario’s Rachel Homan at Moose Jaw’s Mosaic Place. Homan won the contest 9-4.

“Rachel’s team just played really, really well. They just didn’t give us a lot of missed opportunities and it was just a bit of a battle,” Silvernagle said following the loss.

Saskatchewan’s record dropped to 5-5 at the 2020 Canadian women’s curling championship. While the loss to Homan didn’t end Silvernagle’s title chances, she didn’t get the help she needed from the other games.

Prince Edward Island’s Suzanne Birt lost 6-5 to Krista McCarville’s Northern Ontario team. As a result, McCarville clinched the fourth and final spot in the playoffs.

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Silvernagle said her team was happy to have reached the Championship Pool in a year when competition was stiff at the Scotties.

“We know we don’t have a chance in making playoffs now but we’re still just excited to play tonight and we’ll just fully enjoy the crowd and the experience,” said Silvernagle, whose squad is to play B.C.’s Corryn Brown at 6:30 p.m.

Saskatchewan played three games Thursday, beating New Brunswick’s Andrea Crawford in a tiebreaker in the morning before facing Birt in the afternoon and Jones in the evening.

Silvernagle also admitted her North Battleford-based team let two close games — one against Canada and one against Northern Ontario — get away in the round-robin.

“That was the difference was those two losses,” the skip said. “We would’ve been in the playoffs and those were the difference.”

Silvernagle said she and her teammates learned a lot throughout the week.

“Playing those tight games and winning some and losing some, you can take away many things,” Silvernagle said.

Lead Kara Thevenot said it has been a remarkable experience getting a chance to play in Moose Jaw in front of a pro-Saskatchewan crowd.

“(It was great) the first couple days, especially on Sunday when it was really loud. You kind of heard the roar and it was very exciting but a few days later, you kind of expect it now too,” Thevenot said.

“It’s all about enjoying the moment. You don’t ever know when you’ll get back to events like this.”

Without a road to the playoffs, Silvernagle said the team will just look to go out and have fun in its final game against Brown.

“Be completely present and just enjoy this experience,” Silvernagle said. “This will be our last game playing at home so just try and have a lot of fun and make a lot of great shots.”

In the other Friday afternoon Championship Pool games, Team Wild Card’s Jennifer Jones beat Kerri Einarson’s Manitoba rink 12-7, and Brown beat Chelsea Carey’s Team Canada 9-2. Manitoba, Wild Card and Ontario are the other three teams in the playoffs.