Moose Jaw’s Skylar Ackerman is atop the standings through the first two days of competition at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Ackerman and her Saskatoon Nutana rink of third Ashley Thevenot, second Taylor Stremick and lead Kaylin Skinner improved to 2-0 on Saturday night with an 8-6 win over Manitoba champion Kailtyn Lawes at the event in Calgary.
The win keeps Ackerman in a tie atop Pool A with Alberta’s Selena Sturmay and Team Canada’s Kerri Einarson.
Ackerman might have been a touch in awe of her former Olympic champion opponent to start things off, as Lawes would put up a four-ender right off the hop against the youthful Saskatchewan foursome.
As it turns out, that would end up as the last good news on the night for one of the perennial Scotties contenders.
Ackerman got two back in the second end and held Lawes to a single point in the fourth before picking up another deuce in the fifth to tie things up 4-4. Team Sask kept up the pressure and managed a steal in the sixth, held Manitoba to one in the seventh and then added another deuce in the eighth to go up 7-6.
Lawes blanked the ninth but was unable to use the hammer to find the tie, with Ackerman stealing one to secure her two-point win.
Ackerman again had the second-best curling percentage among skips in the draw, throwing 81 percent, while Einarson threw 83 percent in her 7-4 win over Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville. Skinner curled 69 percent, Stremick 75 percent and Thevenot 78 percent.
Ackerman will look to keep her impressive start going in her lone game on Sunday afternoon, and she’ll face another multiple-time Scotties veteran when she takes on McCarville during the 2 p.m. draw.
Keep an eye on www.curling.ca for up-to-date scores and you can catch the action live on TSN.
