麻豆社区

The Sarah Koltun rink has taken the Yukon into the championship side of the National Junior Championships.

Koltun skipped her team to a 4-2 record in the first portion of the round robin and just missed going 5-1 when they dropped an 8-6 heartbreaker last night to Saskatchewan.

"Saskatchewan has to make about a 15-foot raise take-out with the last rock in the extra end to take Sarah's team out,鈥� Wade Scoffin, coach of the junior men's team, said in an interview this morning from the host city of Fort McMurray, Alta.

"I do not think there was more than a one-point differential all the way through.鈥�

The Yukon's only other loss was Sunday to when they lost to B.C. 10-7.

Koltun's rink was up 4-3 after four ends, but surrendered four to B.C. in the fifth, but pulled back to within one to make 7-6 after seven. B.C., however, retaliated with one in the eighth and a steal of two in the ninth to cap off the win. The B.C. rink finished first in Pool A with a 5-1 record.

Koltun's rink moves into the championship bracket, having finished in second place in Pool A. The top four teams in Pool A will now play the top four teams in Pool B, in the second phase of the round robin to determine who advances to the medal round.

The Yukon was scheduled to play Manitoba this afternoon at 1 p.m. Alberta time.

Manitoba finished the opening half of the round robin with a 6-0 record.

It was unclear this morning who the Koltun rink will face tonight as tiebreakers were still being sort out.

In Koltun's pool, for instance, five teams finished in a three-way tie for third with 3-3 records.

Yukon's Will Mahoney rink finished the first phase of the round robin with two wins and four losses, one win away from a tie for third place and a shot at the championship round.

Mahoney's rink now moves into second phase of the round robin, playing off against the bottom three teams in Pool B.

"We are going to finish no more than ninth now,鈥� Scoffin said.

In hindsight, he said, they needed to hold their ground Sunday when they jumped out in front of B.C. 7-5 after seven ends.

"But B.C. played really well in the eighth, ninth and tenth ends,鈥� said Scoffin. "We felt it slip away a little.鈥�

B.C. stole two in the eighth, one in the ninth and three in the tenth to win 11-7.