Barker and her Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre foursome of third Christie Gamble, second Jenna Enge and lead Danielle Sicinski rolled to a 10-4 victory over Winnipeg’s Beth Peterson in their lone game on Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after falling to Dundas, Ont.’s Jacqueline Harrison 7-3 in their tournament opener.
“I thought we were pretty relaxed,” Barker said in an interview with www.curling.ca . “We went on the ice a little bit yesterday to try and get more comfortable and today we came out relaxed and felt pretty in control of our deliveries, and then the result came through on the scoreboard, so that’s great.”
Barker trailed 3-1 after three ends against Peterson but went on a roll from there, scoring three of her own in the fourth, stealing another in the fifth and two more in the sixth to go up 7-3. Peterson got one back the next end, but another three-spot by Barker brought the contest to an early end.
Things didn’t go as well against Harrison as Barker trailed 3-2 heading into the fifth-end break. The two teams exchanged single points the next two ends, but a Harrison deuce would give her control of the game and a 6-3 lead. She then stole one in the ninth and the two teams shook hands.
Barker is back in action with two games Wednesday against Yellowknife’s Kerry Galusha and Missisauga, Ont.’s Jestyn Murphy before facing Kamloops’ Corryn Brown on Thursday and closing out the round robin against Thunder Bay’s Krista McCarville.
Galusha, Brown and McCarville all represented their respective provinces at the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw.
“I think it’s the same type of thing,” Barker said when asked of her plan for the rest of the week. “Don’t put too much pressure on ourselves, it’s a long week, and we just have to keep making shots. One shot at a time is going to get us there and not putting too much pressure on each game,”
Moose Jaw’s Pat Simmons is still looking for his first win in the Men’s Pre-Trials, which are taking place alongside the women’s tournament.
Simmons and his Winnipeg Beach, Man. rink of third Colton Lott, second Kyle Doering and lead Tanner Lott lost a couple of close ones to open their draw, falling 7-4 to Jason Gunnlaugson and dropping a 7-6 decision to Kingston, Ont.’s Tanner Horgan.
Simmons struck first against Gunnlaugson with a single point in the second end, but three in the third and singles in the fourth and fifth from ‘Gunner’ led to a 5-1 deficit. Simmons got right back into it with a deuce in the sixth, but the two teams exchanged single points the next three ends before Simmons conceded.
The match against Horgan saw Simmons build a 4-1 lead through four ends, only to see Horgan get all of that back with a three-ender in the fifth. Simmons then took a 5-4 edge into the eighth, but a Horgan deuce gave him control of the game, and after holding Simmons to a single point in the ninth, drew to the fourth foot in the final end for the one-point win.
Simmons is back in action Wednesday morning against Quebec’s Felix Asselin before taking on Quebec’s Vincent Roberge Thursday and closing out their round robin against Edmonton’s Karsten Sturmay and Calgary’s Jeremy Harty on Friday.
The top two teams from the men’s and women’s tournaments advance to the Roar of the Rings Canadian Curling Trials in Saskatoon Nov. 20-28.
You can follow all the action from the two tournaments on www.curling.ca.
