The top three seeds in the RME Women of the Rings presented by Case IH have all won their first three games in the Manitoba provincial women’s championship underway in Rivers.
Top seed Kaitlyn Lawes and her Heather team posted their third win on the afternoon draw Thursday. Third seeded Team Beth Peterson (skipped by Kelsey Calvert), the finalist each of the last two years, had already posted their third win Thursday evening when #2 seed Kate Cameron (St. Adolphe) went into a dramatic extra end on the late draw.
Carberry’s Alyssa Calvert team scored a single with an outstanding draw to the four foot to tie Cameron 6-6 after ten ends. The extra end was a classic. The guards were placed perfectly when Calvert second Pam Robins threw a remarkable draw to the button, perfectly angled between two Cameron stones in the four foot circle. Five guards were removed and replaced – leaving Cameron nothing but an angle raise takeout with a stone off the rings. Again perfection as the defending champion removed the counter and also improved to three wins in three starts.
With two games to be played on Friday by all 12 teams, almost every game played will have an impact on playoff positions for the three teams from each pool who advance to the playoff round on the weekend.
In the Asham UltraForce pool, Cameron and Peterson share the lead with 3W-0L records. They play each other in the final round Friday with that game determining first place in the pool. Three teams with 1W-2L records can all still qualify for the playoffs. Lane Prokopowich – Granite upset veteran Darcy Robertson – Heather Friday, giving both a 1W-2L record. Calvert is also at 1W-2L after three games.
In the Asham pool, top seed Kaitlyn Lawes is in the driver’s seat with an unbeaten record. Behind the Lawes team are three teams; Sara-Jane Sass-Heather, Lisa McLeod-Pembina, and Kristy Watling-East St. Paul all share 2W-1L records. Of the four, Team McLeod has the toughest Friday draw as they will face Watling on the early draw and Lawes on the late afternoon draw.
Draws Friday at the Riverdale Community Centre in Rivers are scheduled for 8:30am, 12:15pm, 4:00pm, and 7:45pm. The centre sheet game on every draw is available on the CurlManitoba Youtube channel – look for a link on the CurlManitoba website (curlmanitoba.org).
