News Champions Cup

SHERWOOD PARK, Alta. — Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque bounced back big time at the Humpty’s Champions Cup with a double-win Thursday to wrap up her pool play schedule with a 2-2 record.

Team Rocque picked up their second victory of the day defeating Team Fay of Chester, N.S., 7-4 in the afternoon draw.

Rocque, who edged Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni 5-4 in the previous draw, finished up the preliminary round early as both her and second Taylor McDonald have university exams to write Friday. Team Rocque could still be in playoff contention at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season finale pending the results of the rest of the round-robin.

“We’ll find out how it all unfolds but it was a good day at the office,” Rocque said with a smile. “Now back to being a student.”

It was a battle of curling’s young stars with Rocque, winner of back-to-back world junior titles in 2014 and 2015, facing the reigning world junior champions Team Fay. The 22-year-old Rocque, finishing up her rookie season on the women’s tour, said it was definitely interesting being the “veteran” skip on the sheet.

“I’ve played against the girls a couple times in Canadian juniors and university nationals and things like that,” Rocque said. “Coming into the Slams I’m usually the young gun but not this week.”

Rocque opened with the hammer and hit and stuck for a deuce in the first end. Team Fay skip Kristin Clarke faced two counters with her last in the second end and was light on the draw, but sweepers Karlee Burgess and Janique LeBlanc dragged it into the eight-foot circle for a single. Clarke got out of trouble with a double in the third as her shooter was partially buried and Rocque drew to the button for a single to regain the two-point advantage. Clarke drew for one in the fourth with her shooter stopping for a piece at the back of the button to keep things tight. 

Rocque looked to blank the fifth but hit and stuck for a single. Although things didn’t go as planned then, Rocque put on the pressure in the sixth end with six stones in the house and Clarke was light on her last to give up a steal of three and a five-point difference. Clarke drew for two in the seventh and Rocque ran her out of rocks in eight.

“I think our team played pretty well. We took the opportunities when we could,” Rocque said. “They stuck with us the whole way. Tons of credit to them, they’ll be around for a long time.”

Team Fay (1-1) upset reigning Canadian women’s champions Team Chelsea Carey in their Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling series debut Wednesday. Skip Mary Fay is missing the event to focus on exams for her international baccalaureate program. Clarke moved up to skip with Sarah Daniels of Delta, B.C., subbing at third. 

Meanwhile, Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson (2-0) earned a 7-5 win over Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont. Einarson improved to a 2-0 record and Flaxey fell to 0-3.

Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton stole one in the eighth to edge Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones 5-4. Lawton climbed to 2-1 and Jones drew even with a 1-1 record.

Jacqueline Harrison of Mississauga shut out Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay 10-0 during a Battle of Ontario. Harrison (1-1) scored four in the second, stole five in the third when McCarville crashed on her own guard and swiped another point in four to bring out the handshakes. McCarville, who earned silver for Northern Ontario at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, dropped to 0-2.

In the lone men’s division game, Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers climbed to a 2-0 record with a convincing 7-3 win over American John Shuster, who has been eliminated from contention at 0-3 with one round-robin game remaining.

NOTES: The Humpty’s Champions Cup is the seventh and final event of the 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and runs through to Sunday at the Sherwood Park Arena Sports Centre. … Teams had to win a high-profile tour event over the course of the season to qualify. … The event is the second of two new tournaments added to the schedule this year along with the Tour Challenge, which kicked off the season in September.