 Kaitlyn Lawes (Photo: Curling Canada) edged Kamloops B.C.'s Corryn Brown 7-4 in the opening draw of the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax, N.S. Saturday afternoon. By Meredith McCullum Lawes, alongside teammates Selena Njegovan, Jocelyn Peterman and Kristin Gordon, held the lead the whole way and looked confident as she secured her first victory in Halifax. "I feel really grateful that we had a close game going into the rest of the week," said Lawes after the game. "I feel like if you don't get to play every end, you don't know what the ice is necessarily doing later on in the game, so it's just nice to have to throw the last one." The Winnipeg, Man. based squad opened with a blank and a single in the first 2 ends. In the third end, Lawes squeaked past a guard to sit 2 on her last and Brown crashed on the guard, leading to a steal of 2 and a 3-1 lead for Lawes. In the fourth and fifth ends, the teams exchanged deuces. The teams then traded singles in six and seven, making the score 6-3 for Lawes after seven ends. The key shot of the game came in the ninth end after Brown blanked the eighth. With Lawes still up 6-3, Brown set up a potential big end with three rocks in scoring position. On her last shot, Lawes drew around a guard and onto the button to sit shot and ruin Brown's plans with a steal of one. Lawes kept the tenth end clean, sealing the 7-4 victory. "Kaitlyn's a gamer, and everyone knows that when she shows up at the Trials she's here to win," said Jocelyn, reflecting on Lawes' final shot under pressure in the ninth. "I've seen that before, and I have all the faith in her and know that she's going to make those." Lawes is very familiar with the Montana's Canadian Olympic Trials. She is a 3-time Olympian bringing home gold medals in 2014 (Jennifer Jones) and 2018 (mixed doubles with John Morris), so she is familiar with the pressure this event can bring. "It really helps to give us perspective, that we know that we have to take everything one game at a time," said Lawes. "All the top teams are here, and it's going to be a battle, but that's what we play for. We're just trying to enjoy the moment and have fun with each other." Peterman competed at the Beijing Olympics alongside Lawes in 2022, and has already qualified for the 2026 Games in Italy with her partner Brett Gallant. Lawes squad hasn't seen the success they hoped for so far this season, but they are focused on taking it one game at a time, adjusting to the ice and using experience to their advantage as they battle over the next week. "It's big for us to have a good start and just get comfortable with the ice. It was a bit tricky and changing, so nice to just kind of work our way through that and kind of think our way through that game," said Peterman after the game. "Selena's doing a great job reading the ice, and we feel confident that we can kind of adapt for what we see tomorrow." In other draw 1 action, Rachel Homan routed Kate Cameron 16-5, Kerri Einarson beat Christina Black 12-5 and Selena Sturmay beat Kayla Skrlik in another lopsided game. The women have a double header day up next, with Lawes set to face Sturmay (1-0) at 9 a.m. AST and Black (0-1) at 7 p.m. AST. Tonight's draw features all eight men's teams: Jordon McDonald vs Mike McEwen, Matt Dunstone vs John Epping on the TSN feature sheet, Brad Jacobs vs Kevin Koe and Brad Gushue vs Rylan Kleiter. TSN will broadcast the games with scores and standings available at curlingzone.com. For ticket information, team lineups and the schedule, go to the event website: www.curling.ca/2025trials/ |
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