It wasn’t the start Penny Barker and her Team Saskatchewan crew were looking for at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Saturday night.
Selena Njegovan scored four points over the final two ends to give Wild Card #1 a 9-7 victory over the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre foursome in the opening game for Saskatchewan in Thunder Bay.
The game itself looked good for Barker, third Christie Gamble, second Jenna Enge and lead Danielle Sicinski in the early going, as leading 3-2 through three ends, they’d steal single points the next two frames to go up by three.
Njegovan -- skipping in place of Tracy Fleury, who was held up back home in Manitoba due to a COVID-19 positive test -- fought back with one in the sixth and a steal of two in the seventh to tie things up.
Barker got that deuce right back in the eighth, but it would be the last good news on the night for the local foursome.
Njegovan scored three with the hammer in the ninth and would then steal in the 10th to take the two-point win.
It was a tough night percentage-wise for Team Barker, as only Sicinski cracked the 70 mark at 71 per cent. Gamble curled 66 per cent, Enge 60 per cent and Barker 59 per cent.
Third Robyn Njegovan had the top showing for Wild Card #1 at 84 per cent, while lead Kristin MacCuish hit 75 per cent to go along with 66 per cent showings from second Liz Fyfe and skip Njegovan.
Barker returns to the ice on Sunday afternoon for her lone game, that against Newfoundland’s Sarah Hill. Game time is 1 p.m. Moose Jaw time.
For all the latest scores from the tournament, be sure to visit www.curling.ca/2022scotties/.
