But with what Manitoba’s Kerri Einarson put together in the Page Playoff 1-2 game at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts at Mosaic Place on Saturday night, that was exactly the case.
Einarson was all but unstoppable in the contest, making difficult run-back doubles, angle raise take-outs and near perfect draws look all but routine on her way to a 6-4 win over Wild Card’s Jennifer Jones.
As a result, Einarson, third Val Sweeting second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Meilleur have advanced directly to the championship final on Sunday evening, with Jones, third Kaitlyn Lawes, second Jocelyn Peterman and lead Dawn McEwen facing Ontario’s Rachel Homan in the semifinal.
Needless to say, Einarson was feeling it out there.
“Yeah, I’ve just been feeling really comfortable out there, feeling the full experience… smelling the ice and when you step out there you just get this feeling and it’s really good,” she said. “I’ve played really well the last few games and if I can keep that going forward I think we’ll do well.”
Making things even scarier was just how well Jones and her crew played – they hit 84 per cent as a rink, same as Manitoba, and forced Einarson to face the difficult shots end after end.
“They played great and we unfortunately couldn’t get our rocks in the right spots, which gave them and out and she made them perfectly every time,” Jones said.
“It was a really close game and we would make one miss an end and they would just make a perfect shot. We couldn’t get a deuce going, we had a lot of deuces set up and we just couldn’t quite capitalize on them.”
The contest was close throughout, with neither team able to score more than a single point through first five ends, with Jones holding a 2-1 lead. A nifty Einarson double would give Manitoba the first deuce, and after holding Jones to one in seven, tacked on the game’s only other two in the eighth to go ahead 4-3. Jones tied things with one in nine, and Einarson would draw the four for the win facing two Wild Card counters in the eight for the win.
“It’s just in the zone and not thinking about anything but making those shots, just really feeling comfortable out there,” Einarson said of the key to her success. “There were a few shots where I had to make them or we were giving up a couple, but the team played well, we started off a little shaky but we were able to pick it up.”
The Scotties final will be the second of Einarson’s career, after falling to Jones in the 2018 final in Penticton, B.C. She plans to make the most of the lessons learned there.
“Just staying relaxed and focussed and enjoying it, not getting too uptight and putting that pressure on yourself,” Einarson said.
Jones, meanwhile, will prepare for what promises to be another tough battle with Homan.
“It’s just nice to be out there in a big game, and you always want to win that game and get yourself into the final,” she said. “But it’s also good to be able to play in the semi and hopefully we’ll be a little bit sharper... I always say it’s great to play in a semi if you’re going to win it, so hopefully we’ll come out and win it tomorrow.”
The semifinal takes place at 11 a.m., the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts final goes at 6 p.m.
