Roar of the Rings notebook Sweeting trending in right direction

OTTAWA — Edmonton’s Val Sweeting has quickly turned a three-game losing skid into a two-match winning streak at the Roar of the Rings.

The three-time Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title winner and reigning GSOC Bonus Cup champion fell behind the 8-ball early in the Canadian Olympic curling trials giving up big steals to start her matches against Jennifer Jones and Julie Tippin. Things continued to slide early in her Battle of Alberta matchup against Calgary’s Chelsea Carey but those stormy clouds started to clear up in the second half.

“In our first two games we just had one bad end and gave up a steal of three,” Sweeting said. “That was pretty much the game. You can’t be doing that later in the game, well, you don’t want to do that ever. Just the one bad end and that really put us behind.

“We didn’t play as well in the first half of the Carey game, so we deserved to be behind there. But we had a really good second half and from there we just feel like we’ve put the whole game together. It may sound silly. The girls are playing well and they’re setting up great ends. We just have to close it out and see what happens.”

While a 0-3 start would squash a team’s chances at a Grand Slam, Sweeting still had five round-robin games remaining here and has been taking it one at a time. Sweeting picked apart Allison Flaxey 10-5 Monday and made it two in a row defeating Michelle Englot 8-5 Tuesday afternoon.

“We need a bit of help but regardless of what happens out there we have to win,” Sweeting said. “That’s just what we’re focusing on. I think the team’s been playing really well regardless of what our record shows. We’ve just got to keep that up, keep plugging away and hopefully it’s enough to make a tiebreaker or playoffs.”

It was sloppy across the sheets during the afternoon draw as the forecast outside Canadian Tire Centre called upon rain that may have affected the delicate temperature inside the venue.

Sweeting managed to flip the script against Englot as she was the one stealing the first end. Both skips made their first shots, however, it was far from their best performance on their last ones resulting in a three-point swing. Sweeting wrecked and handed Englot a draw for two but earned a bizarre break when the 2017 Scotties Tournament of Hearts silver medallist chipped off her own causing them both to roll away.

Sweeting shut the front door in the second blocking the direct path with a guard. Englot attempted an angle raise but nailed it on the nose and Sweeting swiped another one.

Englot (0-4) took two in the fourth to tie it up and Sweeting replied with a deuce of her own in five to reclaim the lead 4-2.

Sweeting was sharp on the double takeout in six forcing Englot to hit for just a single.

A wide-open draw for two in seven made it 6-3 for Sweeting, but Englot fired right back matching with another pair of points in eight. Sweeting counted another couple in nine to reestablish the three-point gap although she misplayed her last giving a little too much heat on an angle tap.

“It was a battle,” Sweeting said. “It was a little tricky out there but no matter what happened, learn from it and try and make your next one. I think the team did a really good job of that. Luckily we got some breaks, capitalized and it went our way.”

Sweeting Nation was out in full force in the stands. Third Lori Olson-Johns’ daughters Lexi and Ava led the chants by shouting “Let’s go, mommy! Let’s go!” and “Let’s go, Sweeting! Let’s go!” and won the crowd over as they got into the spirit clapping along.

“Definitely good having that family here and that fan support,” Sweeting said with a smile. “It makes you feel pretty good out there.”

Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay got back into the win column with a 7-4 victory over Julie Tippin of Woodstock in a battle of Ontario teams during Tuesday’s evening draw.

McCarville drew her record level at 2-2 and quickly snapped a two-game slide.

“We had a couple games where there were a just couple shots here or there but we thought we were playing fine,” Team McCarville third Kendra Lilly said. “We knew if we just went out and played how we were playing that we’d eventually get back on that winning streak.”

The tricky part rebounding here is the one-game-a-day schedule that allows teams to overthink and dwell too much on those defeats.

“When we lost that game yesterday, all we wanted to do was go back out and play again because we thought that we were playing OK,” Lilly said. “It’s kind of tough just sitting around all day. We’ve got lots of time to do things. It’s definitely a slower pace, we have to make the best of it I guess.”

McCarville took charge opening with the hammer and waiting patiently for the right moment to pounce. That came with a three-ender in the third and McCarville never looked back. The teams split singles in four and five and McCarville stole one in the sixth to extend her lead 5-1. Things remained close with Tippin and McCarville alternating deuces in seven and eight. McCarville forced Tippin (1-3) to just another lone point in nine.

“The ice conditions were a little tough, so once we were up it was easier to just throw those hits and the not-so-precise shots,” Lilly said. “That three was huge to be able to just sit back a little bit and just go on defence.”

Having seen the previous draw and chatting with those teams also gave them an advantage.

“They sort of said the same things, to just stay on your toes and it’ll be a little bit slower,” Lilly said. “We knew that going in and we knew we would just have to have a nice finish on all of our shots. We handled it pretty well.”

The Northern Ontario crowd is starting to grow in numbers (or they’re at least creeping closer to the seats near the media bench) and is expected to increase as the week goes on.

“The crowd was really into it tonight,” Lilly said. “There were a lot of people here, it’s so much fun playing in front of them. It’s almost like the Scotties crowd and we’re going to have some more people coming by the end of the week so we’ll have lots of fun.”