Music: {allcanada} ALBERTA'S SWEETING OPENS SCOTTIES WITH COMEBACK VICTORY

Saturday, February 1, 2014

{allcanada} ALBERTA'S SWEETING OPENS SCOTTIES WITH COMEBACK VICTORY

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MONTREAL -- It was a nervy start to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for Val Sweeting's Alberta rink.

The Sweeting team with lead Carly Sandwith, second Jessie Sanderson and third Stephanie Baier scored three points in the ninth end for a comeback 7-5 victory over 20-year-old newcomer Sarah Koltun of the Yukon and Northwest territories in the opening draw on Saturday at the Maurice Richard Arena.

Koltun stole a point for a 4-1 lead in the fifth end to throw a scare into 26-year-old Sweeting, a youngster herself in only her second Scotties.

"They were outplaying us for sure," said Sweeting. "We set up some good ends and she made some good draws to save them, but we stayed patient and had an opportunity in the ninth and took advantage.

"I'm happy to get out of that one with a win, but we definitely have to sharpen up. We knew we couldn't take them lightly. It's their first time here and they have nothing to lose."

A miss by Koltun with her first stone in the ninth set up the decisive steal by Alberta. Sweeting's rink kept the house clear in the 10th and left no chance for the Whitehorse skip to force an extra end.

Koltun is the youngest skip ever to play in the Scotties and is the first to skip at the Canadian junior and Scotties championships in the same year. She went 5-4 at the juniors two weeks ago in Liverpool, N.S. with two of her three teammates at the Scotties.

She skipped a record seven times at national junior championships and is considered among the rising talents in the sport.

But she may have let one get away in her debut.

"We were in control at the beginning and it was just that one bad end, but it's our first game at our first Scotties so we'll take what we can from it," said Koltun. "We are happy to be here, but we want to contend and be competitive and I think we showed that in this first game by putting up a really strong fight."

It was a disappointing opener in front of the home fans for Quebec's Allison Ross as she failed to score until she picked up one in the eighth. After scoring, she conceded a 6-1 victory to New Brunswick's Andrea Crawford.

Crawford scored a single in the second end, then stole single points in the fifth and sixth. She stole another three in the seventh as Ross struggled to find her range. A big cheer went up among the 1,819 spectators in the 4,000-seat rink when Ross finally got her point, but the match was out of reach.

Newfoundland's Heather Strong took a 6-2 lead after six ends, then had to hold off a charge from Nova Scotia's Heather Smith for an 8-5 victory.

Scotties newcomer Kesa Van Osch of British Columbia needed an extra end to defeat Kim Dolan's Prince Edward Island rink 7-4.

The 22-year-old from Victoria admitted to feeling nervous in her debut match, but settled down as it went on against the veteran Dolan, who is in her 10th Scotties.

Van Osch said she hasn't set any goals for the tournament.

"We're a first-year team," she said. "It was a bonus just to make it to the Scotties this year. We're taking things as they come, game by game."

The evening draw Saturday has defending champion Rachel Homan and Team Canada in its first action against Manitoba. Other matches have B.C. against Alberta, Quebec against Newfoundland and Ontario versus Saskatchewan.

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