麻豆社区

Sarah Koltun and her rink of junior curlers have no regrets.

They were on the cusp of making history as the first Yukon women's team to make it into the semi-finals at the M & M Meat Shop Junior Curling Championship.

The fate of Koltun's rink laid in the hands of Ontario in Friday afternoon's tie-breaker when Ontario skip Jamie Sinclair took out Koltun's shot rock with her last stone in the 10th end.

"It was tough to swallow at first,鈥� Koltun said this morning from the host community of Fort McMurray, Alta.

"But at the end of the day we just have to be proud of how far we have come and how much we have grown in the last seven years.鈥�

Koltun said she fully intends to make another run at the junior championship next year, her final year of eligibility for the under-21 championship.

While it was the final shot at the title for her third Chelsea Duncan, lead Patty Wallingham and second Jenna Duncan are still eligible, Koltun pointed out.

Chelsea Duncan was also named to the first-team all-麻豆社区rink, having finished with the best overall shooting percentage for thirds. Koltun was named to the second-team all-麻豆社区rink, having finished tied for first with the other skip but was pushed to second overall when it came down to tie-breaker using the statistics in the game between each other during the round robin.

The Yukon's men's team skipped by Will Mahoney did not advance to the championship round after finishing 2-4 in the initial round robin. They finished tournament play with a 5-4 record for ninth place out of 14 teams.

The Corryn Brown rink from B.C. won the women's championship Sunday by defeating Manitoba 6-3.

The men's championship was won Saturday by the Matt Dunstone's Manitoba rink, after defeating the Alberta rink skipped by Yukoner Thomas Scoffin 4-3.

Yukon women's coach Lindsay Moldowan said her team kept themselves focused for Friday afternoon's match, despite what was on the line.

The curlers, she said, have been working closely with local sports psychologist Tracey Bilsky.

Friday afternoon's game was just a game in their minds, not a trip to the semi-finals for the first time, and no less than a bronze medal finish, said the coach.

"They were really calm going into it,鈥� she said. "They did a really good job with the stress and the nerves.鈥�

Moldowan said Koltun and company brought their A-game but so did Ontario, even though Ontario had lost to the Yukoners 10-3 that morning.

"Neither team was really missing much,鈥� she said. "It really came down to the Ontario team. They were just a completely different team in the afternoon.

"They just came out a different team, and they played to the best of their ability and we were a lot more evenly matched,鈥� Moldowan said.

"The girls curled extremely well in both games. So I do not think there was anything else the team could have done.鈥�