Skip to content

Northern Ontario out

Tracy Horgan, Jennifer Horgan, Jenna Enge and Amanda Gates have done something amazing.

Tracy Horgan, Jennifer Horgan, Jenna Enge and Amanda Gates have done something amazing.

For the first time, Northern Ontario was represented as a distinct region in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, competing alongside Team Ontario, Team Canada and the rest, for Canadian women's curling supremacy.

And Team Northern Ontario came so close this year, defeated this afternoon by Team Canada's Rachel Homan in a hard-fought match in Moose Jaw that ended 6-4.

Going into the tournament, Horgan and Co. were determined to best the 4-7 Scotties record they achieved as Team Ontario at the 2012 Scotties in Red Deer, Alta.

Before heading to Saskatchewan, the Horgan squad was feted at their home rink, the Idylwydle Golf and Country Club, in a fundraiser to help them cover the cost of attending Scotties.

"Our team is so much better than we were in 2012," said Jennifer Horgan that day. "We know what we're in for. In the last few tournaments that we've played in, we've been extremely consistent. That's something that hurt us in 2012."

In today's match, Team Canada looked strong at the hop, jumping out to an early 1-0 lead after the first end. But Horgan came on strong, scoring one point each in ends two, three and four, while blanking Homan and Co.

Team Canada scored one in the fifth to make it a 3-2 match, but Horgan gave herself some insulation by scoring a single point in the sixth to make it a 4-2 lead.

End seven though saw Homan rally to score two and tie it up.

The eighth end was tough, with neither side giving an inch and neither side scoring either.

Tied going into the ninth, Team Canada managed to notch two points in the end to take the re-take lead. Horgan held Team Canada scoreless in the 10th end, but ran out of rocks before she could make up the two-point deficit, and the Homan rink won the match by a 6-4 final score.

That the game was close is no surprise. The Horgan rink put a great deal of effort into working on their end game this season, Jennifer Horgan explained just prior to Scotties.

"Historically, we have tended to lose those very close games," she said. "We're not having blowouts this year, but we're winning a lot of close games, scoring those key points in the sixth or eighth end, when we really need it. And we've also incorporated some strategic blanking."

Team Northern Ontario included Tracy Horgan (skip), Jennifer Horgan (vice), Jenna Enge (second), Amanda Gates (lead) and Courtney Chenier (fifth).

(PHOTO: Tracy Horgan (centre) smiles with teammates Jennifer Horgan (left) and Amanda Gates during Team Northern Ontario's match today against Team Canada. Andrew Klaven/CCA)


What's next?


If you would like to apply to become a Verified reader Verified Commenter, please fill out this form.