News National

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Sponsor’s exemption Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay, Ont., fended off a second-half surge from Ottawa’s Rachel Homan to eliminate the defending champion 8-5 Saturday and advance to the Boost National semifinals.

McCarville extended her winning streak to four games to reach the semifinals after falling 8-2 to Homan in her opening match. Homan won the inaugural National women’s title last season in Oshawa, Ont.

“Coming into the tournament I felt really good,” McCarville said. “We’ve been practising so hard at home and we’ve been doing as many bonspiels as we can. Just coming in and having a rough first game against them, we wanted to show them that the team that was out there in the first game we’re better than that. We picked it up the last few games and are rolling. We just wanted to keep that going so here we are.” 

McCarville jumped out of the gate with the hammer, splitting the rings and scoring a deuce in the first end then stole a point in the second as Homan faced two, hit one and rolled away.

Homan tried a tricky angle raise in the third but missed and only counted her one that was already sitting shot. She missed on the double attempt in four, eliminating just one, and Team McCarville sweepers Sarah Potts and Ashley Sippala dragged their last into the eight-foot circle to score another pair of points to lead 5-1 at the break. 

“To get a big lead like that is really big against a team like them, but with the five-rock rule it’s tough to keep a lead like that especially when they can throw two corners up,” McCarville said. “It’s tough to defend a lead on this ice and with the five-rock rule. It’s amazing ice, it’s perfect for coming back but we had to keep holding on and plucking away.”

McCarville was right to feel skeptical about holding a four-point lead. Homan got back into it with a triple takeout to score three in the fifth and erased the deficit stealing one in the sixth as McCarville looked at three with her last, hoping to hit and roll in, but landed on the nose to concede a point. 

McCarville bounced right back herself with a great double takeout to score three in the seventh and ran Homan out of rocks in eight.

“The chance at that double in seven was an opportunity I didn’t think I would have. I thought I would be drawing or hitting for one. That was really big and exciting,” McCarville said. “Even going into the last end, the eighth end, being up three you still don’t feel comfortable because with the five-rock rule anything can happen.” 

McCarville now meets Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni, who crushed Calgary’s Chelsea Carey 9-2. Tirinzoni led 4-2 at the break, settled for a single in five and it was game over after six when Carey came up light on her last to give up a steal of four. Cathy Overton-Clapham is filling in for Team Tirinzoni third Manuela Siegrist, who is out with a knee injury. Overton-Clapham has been a super spare in the past winning two Grand Slam titles over the past couple seasons as a sub. 

On the other side of the bracket, Switzerland’s Binia Feltscher cooled down Tour Challenge champion Val Sweeting of Edmonton 8-2. The reigning world champion Feltscher scored three in the third and the fifth ends and stole two in the sixth. Sweeting was on a roll as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs with a 4-0 record in pool play. 

Feltscher faces Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson, who scored two in the eighth to top Russia’s Anna Sidorova 8-7.

NOTES: The Boost National is the third event and second major of the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season. … Action continues Saturday with the men’s and women’s semifinals at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet ONE & SN NOW. … The Boost National runs through to Sunday afternoon at the Essar Centre.