‘We all played really well:’ Silvernagle’s rink earns win over Alberta

Robyn Silvernagle feels her team put together its best performance so far at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Monday night.

“We all played really well. We put a really strong game together and hopefully we can continue to do that the rest of the week,” Silvernagle said following a 7-5 win over Alberta at the 2020 Canadian women’s curling championship.

“(Second Jessie Hunkin) curled really well (Sunday night) and the rest of us curled good enough but as a team (Monday) was a solid performance.”

Silvernagle, whose team is representing Saskatchewan at the Scotties, met the undefeated Alberta rink skipped by Laura Walker, who is participating in her first Scotties.

“Sometimes when you know a team is playing really well, you know you have to bring your A game and curl really well to keep up so it almost makes you bring up your performance a little bit,” Silvernagle said.

Silvernagle and her team were locked in a tight battle but things began to tilt in Saskatchewan’s favour in the fifth end in front of 2,537 people. Silvernagle was able to make a tough draw and score three in the end and then never looked back the rest of the game.

“You just felt more in control after that end,” Silvernagle said.

Hunkin is in her second Scotties appearance and is enjoying playing in front of so many people cheering on her team.

“The crowd has been amazing and it really gives you goosebumps. Every time you make a shot, they go nuts for you,” Hunkin said. “It’s something that I didn’t think I’d be lucky enough to get to do but now that I’m here, I’m just taking it all in and embracing it.”

The win moved Saskatchewan to a 3-1 record and into a three-way tie for second place along with Northern Ontario (Krista McCarville) and Alberta.

Silvernagle said her team prepared a bit differently ahead of this game.

“I know it’s still early but all these wins are so important,” Silvernagle said. “We rested all day, this was our only game, so we knew that we had to come out prepared and firing and working on all cylinders.”

The Saskatchewan rink will now get ready for a tough stretch of games including Noémie Verreault’s Quebec rink, the still-undefeated Manitoba rink skipped by Kerri Einarson and then Northern Ontario.

“Every game is so important,” Silvernagle said. “If you lose one, it can kind of put you out of things. It’s a little more cut-throat this way. We just have to bring our best and leave everything out there.

“We have nothing else we can do but just play our best and know that we gave it our best effort.”

Hunkin said she doesn’t think the team needs to make many adjustment as it heads into the final stages of the round-robin.

“We’re playing pretty well right now and I think it’s (important to) just keep the momentum going and stay strong,” Hunkin said.

On Tuesday, Saskatchewan is to meet Quebec at 1:30 p.m., and then Northern Ontario at 6:30 p.m.