And that will come as no surprise to anyone who has watched her team play this past week at Mosaic Place.
Homan and her rink of third Emma Miskew, second Joanne Courtney and lead Lisa Weagle roared to an 8-3 win over Wild Card’s Jennifer Jones in the semifinal on Sunday morning, posting another surgically efficient showing in the process.
The big end came early, as Jones came in heavy on her final draw in the third end and surrendered a steal of three. Homan tacked on two more in the fifth to lead 5-1 and, with the way her team has been playing, it was all but academic from there.
“Definitely, that was a crucial moment, but we’ve seen big leads all week and teams fight back,” Homan said. “So we made sure to keep the pedal down and play a really great game. Jenn was one rock away from getting a three right back, so we had to keep making big shots.”
Returning to the final against the just-as-red-hot Einarson is something they’re looking forward too, especially after taking a tough loss to Alberta’s Chelsea Carey last year.
“Every time you’re in one of those finals, it’s an amazing opportunity,” Homan said. “You win big games and you lose big games because you’re in them. We’re excited to be back in and we’re excited to give it our all tonight.”
“Last year obviously stung, and it happens, it’s part of sport and if everything was guaranteed no one would enjoy it,” added Miskew. “So we’re happy to be in this situation again, we’re playing a great team and we’re looking forward to a great game.”
For Jones and her foursome of third Kaitlyn Lawes, second Jocelyn Peterman and lead Dawn McEwen, it was a tough loss but one they took with their usual aplomb, even hanging around for photos and autographs with the Hit Draw and Tap youngsters who took the ice right after the semifinal.
The veteran skip – who was shooting for her record seventh Scotties championship – pointed to the third end as the difference in the game, especially against a team like Ontario.
“You can’t give up a steal of three against a team like this and come back very often,” Jones said. “We tried to put a few ends together but just couldn’t kind of get anything going. Unfortunately with that steal of three we just missed too many shots that end even if I could have held them to one it would have changed the game a little bit. They played great today.”
Jones made her final appearance in the 2020 Scotties on Sheet D about half an hour after the contest as she made her way to centre ice, kneeled and kissed the Scotties Tournament of Hearts logo.
“We’re really happy with our season, we worked on a lot of things and we’re really trending in the right direction, which I really love,” Jones said. “And we’re having a ton of fun, so we’re really happy with where we’re at. We would have liked to have played better in this game and last night, but all in all, can’t complain.”
The 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts championship final takes place tonight at 6 p.m. at Mosaic Place.
