Team Saskatchewan bounces back to earn win to end Day 2 of Scotties

Robyn Silvernagle and her rink were able to bounce back and end Sunday on a high note.

Silvernagle, who is representing Saskatchewan at the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, overcame an early four-point deficit and earned an 11-8 win over Nunavut.

“We struggled a little bit at the beginning but hey, we need to be patient. Ten ends is long and we just waited for some chances and took them when I got them,” Silvernagle said following the win at the Canadian women’s curling championship.

After giving up four to the Nunavut rink skipped by Lori Eddy, Silvernagle and her team stormed back with three points in both the third and fourth ends. From there, the team didn’t look back and cruised to the win to improve to 2-1.

“We knew that we could battle back and we can get back into it and that’s what we’re good at this year. We knew that that was coming and we managed to get the lead,” third Stefanie Lawton said.

It was an important game for Saskatchewan after it dropped its afternoon draw against the Chelsea Carey-skipped Team Canada.

Trailing 7-6 in the 10th end and rather try a draw for one point to force an extra end, Silvernagle elected to go for a double takeout and a win rather than give Carey’s squad the hammer in the afternoon draw.

“Playing a great team like that in an extra (end) isn’t always a gimme to have a win when you don’t have hammer, so we thought, ‘Why not just go for it?’ ” Silvernagle said following Saskatchewan’s 9-6 loss to Team Canada. “We needed a quarter of a rock.”

Silvernagle’s attempt didn’t catch enough of Canada’s rock, just nudging it before the Saskatchewan rock slid through the house. Carey’s team stole two points to clinch the win.

Afterwards, Carey thought Silvernagle made the right call going for the win.

“It’s tough to win in an extra end without the hammer and it was makeable. It looked like she missed that by a lot but she didn’t — she hits another half-inch of that and it’s made and it’s the win,” Carey said.

“It wasn’t easy but your chances of hitting that are probably better than your chance of winning without the hammer in the extra.”

It was a back-and-forth affair between the teams at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw. There were five lead changes throughout the game, without any blank ends being recorded.

Silvernagle and her team had a lot of support in the crowd, with thousands of fans out in green to support the North Battleford-based rink.

“It was incredible to make a shot. It gives you goosebumps but you really have to focus in and stick to your game,” Silvernagle said.

Lawton said getting the win in the evening was important after a frustrating game against Canada.

“In this competition, you’re going to have games (like the Canada one) and we know it’s going to happen. There’s going to be hiccups along the way and you just have to know how to bounce back from them,” Lawton said.

Silvernagle will meet an Alberta team skipped by Laura Walker at 6:30 p.m. Monday.