It took 11 ends to do it, but Cindy
Street is finally on the road to Charlottetown.By JAMIE SHANKS of the Weyburn Review
It took 11 ends to do it, but Cindy
Street is finally on the road to Charlottetown.
After winning four provincial championships as a junior, the Moose Jaw curler made good on her first appearance at the SaskPower Scott Tournament of Hearts by defeating none other than Sandra Schmirler in Sunday's final at the Weyburn Colosseum by a score of 9-6.
"It's hard to absorb right now," Street said after a thrilling extra-end upset that saw Schmirler's last rock - a draw with Street lying three with the hammer - finish heavy and glide through the rings.
It was just one of several mistakes in a game where errors on both sides made all the difference.
"The game wasn't played as well as we wanted it to be," said Street, who nevertheless is bound for the national Scott in Charlottetown, P.E.I. on Feb. 20-28. "We got the breaks and then gave them right back."
There weren't enough of them for Schmirler, however. After steals of one in the second and fourth ends, Schmirler was ahead 2-1 until the seventh when she wrecked on a guard and bumped in one of Street's rocks, giving up a steal of three and the lead.
She recovered with three of her own in the eighth but Street used the hammer to pick up two more in the ninth with a takeout. Schmirler managed to tie it at 6-6 in the 10th and force the extra end, but the three-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist was ultimately thwarted in her bid to win her fourth provincial Scott.
"I missed both my shots badly
and that cost us huge," Schmirler said of the game's tense
finale. "We made some really bad shots in the 10th end."
Although she conceded that it's not a bad thing to be the second-best team in Saskatchewan - especially considering that the field included no less than five rinks with prior championships to their names - it was difficult to hide the disappointment.
"It's very disappointing," Schmirler said.
"You don't get to play in the provincial finals very often. This is the fourth time losing. It's very hard."
Regina's Michelle Ridgway would likely agree. After winning the provincial title four times in 1988-90 and 1992, she won her opening game on Wednesday but was later eliminated after falling to 2-5 in the round robin.
"It gets tougher every year," Ridgway said on Friday after losing 8-3 to Schmirler in the sixth draw. Fast ice kept her and her team off-balance, she said, and a failure to adjust to it led to Ridgway's early exit from playoff contention.
"Usually we like to play with patience and capitalize on our opportunities, but we ended up scrambling a little more than we normally do," she said.
"We just didn't have our draw weights, or I didn't have my draw weights. For me, draw weight is a key."
Draw weight became the deciding factor after the conclusion of the round robin on Saturday when Street, Schmirler and 1990 national junior champion Atina Ford were tied at 5-2 in the standings, each with a 1-1 record between them. To the delight of spectators, the resulting skills competition took the form of a shootout which was handily won by the Schmirler rink as she, Jan Betker and Marcia Gudereit all drew to the button with Joan McCusker drawing the four-foot.
That set up Saturday's breathtaking semifinal between Street and Ford. Ford - the fifth on Schmirler's Olympic team in 1998 - allowed Street to steal two in the third end but came up with an amazing shot in the fifth to score four and take a 5-3 lead.
Going into the 10th with the hammer and the score tied 7-7, Ford saw her chances suddenly and dramatically slip away when her last rock finished in the back of the 12-foot to give Street a steal of one and the win.
"I should never miss that shot," Ford said. "We gave it to her."
Despite her obvious disappointment, the Regina skip ended up winning the Marj Mitchell Award for her sportsmanship and performance at the tournament. She also found a silver lining in her semifinal cloud.
"This is way better than we thought we'd do," Ford said, adding this is only the first year she and her teammates have curled together. "We're pretty happy to get this far."
So were Street and her teammates Brandee Davis, Allison Tanner and Shannon Wilson. This is also their first year as a team, said Street, who curled with Wilson last year and was with Tanner for three of Street's four trips to the junior nationals. They were the youngest rink at this week's Scott as well: their oldest member is 25 while their skip is just 24.
In spite of that, their victory on Sunday was their second one over Schmirler in the tournament, the other coming in a 6-5 win in extra ends on Friday. Street had a simple game plan going into the final against the imposing Schmirler.
"I hoped to keep it aggressive against them," she said. "When you get down against them, they're good hitters."
If the impression was that she was going in as an underdog against the three-time world champion and Olympic gold medal-winner, it certainly didn't bother the unflappable Street.
"I don't mind being the underdog," she said. "I think we kind of surprised a few teams here and that's a good feeling."
For more related stories and photos check out the Feb. 3 issue of the Weyburn Review.
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