Team Saskatchewan skip Robyn Silvernagle. (Andrew Klaver Photography/Curling Canada)

By Britton Gray/CJME News Staff

Saskatchewan steals win in stunning game for Prince Edward Island

Feb 20, 2020 | 5:32 PM

Saskatchewan stole a point — and a win — in a thrilling finish Thursday at Moose Jaw’s Mosaic Place.

Robyn Silvernagle’s rink defeated Suzanne Birt of Prince Edward Island 8-7 to earn its second win of the day at the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Silvernagle and her North Battleford-based team played a near-flawless 10th end to force Birt to go for a double takeout for the win with hammer. Birt’s attempt jammed, giving Saskatchewan the win.

“We played a pretty perfect 10th end (and) got a couple lucky breaks,” Silvernagle said after the first draw of the playoff round at the Canadian women’s curling championship. “It’s tough with the five-rock rule to make every shot perfect, so we executed well that end.”

But the game was almost put out of reach in the ninth end.

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P.E.I. was sitting five and Silvernagle delivered a draw that stopped just in time to earn a point to tie the game 7-7 instead of falling behind by six.

She said her mindset going into the crucial draw was simple.

“There’s absolutely nothing to lose,” she said. “You either make it or the game’s over, so you might as well just make it.”

Third Stefanie Lawton said the contest was “a battle,” which is what the crew expected.

“We know that Suzanne’s going to play a very aggressive game, she’s going to come out firing and they don’t let off,” Lawton said. “They keep coming around that centre (guard), so it was just a matter of, ‘OK, make sure that we have a shot in the end when we have hammer and keep working at it.’

“It was a great game.”

It was the second game of the day for Saskatchewan, which defeated New Brunswick 9-7 in the Pool A tiebreaker game in the morning to reach the playoffs.

“It’s definitely a bit of a grind,” said second Jessie Hunkin who, like lead Kara Thevenot, is pregnant while playing in this year’s Scotties.

“We were hoping we didn’t have to play this morning but we managed to get through and that’s kind of all that matters.”

The win gives Saskatchewan a 5-3 record entering a game Thursday evening against Jennifer Jones and Team Wild Card. That contest is to begin at 6:30 p.m.

“We’ll have to work hard to keep our energy up. Three games in one day and going to an extra end in (the tiebreaker) game, it’s definitely going to be exhausting,” Silvernagle said. “That game (against New Brunswick) either meant going home or continuing to play.”

Earlier in the day, it was a tense tiebreaker for Saskatchewan.

Silvernagle and her rink were in control early, appearing to have bounced back from a 4-3 loss in an extra end to Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville on Wednesday night. Silvernagle’s final draw in that game was heavy, allowing McCarville to draw for the win.

It was almost a similar story Thursday morning, with Silvernagle’s final draw in the 10th end rolling just far enough to give New Brunswick’s Andrea Crawford a steal to tie it 7-7.

But luckily for Saskatchewan, there was one more end to make amends. Crawford’s final shot came up short in the 11th, giving Saskatchewan the win and a ticket to the championship pool.

In the other afternoon championship pool games, Rachel Homan (Ontario) defeated McCarville 9-4, Jones beat Chelsea Carey (Canada) 10-5 and Kerri Einarson (Manitoba) defeated Corryn Brown (B.C.) 8-4.