CHARLOTTETOWN -- Rachel Homan's young curling team from Ottawa has won approval from opposing players at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, including the skip facing them in the Page playoff.
Nova Scotia's Heather Smith-Dacey and Homan's Ontario rink will square off in the elimination game between the third and fourth seeds at the Canadian women's curling championship Saturday.
The winner plays in the later semifinal, while the loser is eliminated.
Talented, sure, but inexperienced at the next level of women's curling in this country. That didn't matter to Ontario, which went 8-3 in their first national championship and secured the third playoff seeding.
"It's unbelievable," Smith-Dacey said. "When you're younger you don't overthink, you just play and that's what they do very, very well."
Smith-Dacey's Halifax team kept their title hopes alive by beating B.C.'s Kelly Scott 9-8 in Friday afternoon's tiebreaker to secure the fourth playoff spot. Both teams were tied at 7-4 to end the preliminary round.
Saskatchewan's Amber Holland (9-2) and defending champion Jennifer Jones (8-3) were to meet in the Page playoff between the top two seeds later Friday. The winner heads straight to Sunday's final, while the loser plays in the semifinal against either Ontario or Nova Scotia.
Homan would be an excellent poker player because her face gives nothing away when she's on the ice. The University of Ottawa student and her teammates have played confidently all week and beat Nova Scotia 9-3 in the opening draw.
After watching Friday's tiebreaker, Homan allowed that her team may have been ahead of the curling curve in qualifying for playoffs on their first go.
"We're a little surprised I guess that we made it here so soon," Homan said. "It's amazing to get that success early and hopefully we can continue with it.
"I'm excited to play. Hopefully it will be a long day for us."
Scott says Ontario didn't get caught making some of the mistakes rookies often make at their first Scotties.
"Normally those juniors who come out, you can kind of rope them into a few things, strategy and even arena ice conditions," she said. "They've kept it going throughout the week, had a solid week and by no means scraping out their wins.
"They're here to play, controlling their games and a real good confident demeanour out there and they'll be tough right until the end. I wouldn't be surprised if they get through another playoff game or two."
Smith-Dacey's third Danielle Parson is a junior-aged player the team picked up when regular skip Colleen Jones, a six-time Canadian champ, was struck with meningitis. Blisse Comstock, 27, and Teri Lake, 29, make up the front end.
Smith-Dacey, 38, moved up in the order to replace Jones and will skip her first playoff game at the Scotties on Saturday. She called the shots for the Nova Scotia team that went 6-5 at the 2004 Scotties.
So despite the difference in their ages, both Smith-Dacey and Homan are in new curling territory.
"One of the biggest (games) for me too," Smith-Dacey said. "I'm in a different stage of my life obviously with children, businesses and all that stuff. We're thrilled to be in this position."
Smith-Dacey quickly took control of the tiebreaker game versus B.C., scoring a pair with last-rock advantage in the first end and then stealing four points over the next three ends for a 6-0 lead.
B.C. trailed by three points heading into the 10th. Smith-Dacey was facing three B.C. counters on her last shot, so she removed one and rolled out for the win.
"It's always so hard when you get up early and you know you have to play 10 ends," Smith-Dacey said. "We had a game plan going into keep the pressure on. We were able to execute really well early and it gave us a little bit of breathing room later in the game."
After giving up six points early, Scott says she was hoping for a mulligan.
"Can we start over? Rewind?" she said with a wry smile. "You've got to dig deep, keep enjoying yourself and try to make a game of it."
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