<p>Manitoba skip Kerri Einarson (centre) and teammates Karlee Burgess (left) and Krysten Karwacki watch the measurement on the scoreboard as they give up 3 in the first end to Manitoba's Cameron during Scotties Tournament of Hearts action in Thunder Bay, Ont., Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</p>

THUNDER BAY, Ont. - The shortest road to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts final pits the team that wants to retain the Canadian women's curling crown against a skip that wants to re-take it.

Defending champion Rachel Homan and Manitoba's Kerri Einarson won Friday playoff games to advance to the Page playoff between the top two seeds Saturday in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Saturday's victor gets an express ticket to Sunday's championship game at the Fort William Gardens, while the loser must come through a semifinal to gain a rematch.

While it's a non-elimination game, it's one that offers a smoother path to a championship.

"It's nice to have that second life. We've got to win two more games," Homan said. "However that happens, that's our focus, is just staying in the moment, trying to learn and get better every end."

The team that takes the Page one-two game has won the final 62 per cent of the time, or 18 out of 29 times since the Page format was introduced.

Homan has skipped teams to four Canadian titles and Einarson teams rattled off four straight from 2020 to 2023. Einarson defeated Homan in the 2020 and 2021 finals.

But Homan, third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes not only stayed unbeaten in Thunder Bay with Friday's 10-5 win over Nova Scotia's Christina Black, the reigning world champions from the Ottawa Curling Club have dominated domestic and international women's curling for almost two seasons with a combined record of 121-11.

Einarson's team was the only Canadian rink to beat Homan's this season, which was in the final of the Grand Slam HearingLife Tour Challenge in October.

"Put some pressure on them. It looks like they're struggling a little bit tonight, so maybe we can take advantage of that going forward," Einarson said.

Her Gimli Curling Club side was a 7-4 winner Friday afternoon over Alberta's Kayla Skrlik, who defeated Ontario's Danielle Inglis 9-8 at night.

Inglis meets Black, who beat B.C.'s Corryn Brown 10-5, in Saturday's Page playoff between the third and fourth seeds. The winner heads to the semifinal and the loser eliminated.

Skrlik, 27, skipped a team to the final four on her second try after her debut in Kamloops two years ago.

"Oh, my God, it's so exciting," Skrlik said. "We had such a long day here. I think we've been here since like, 11 a.m. or something or noon, so to win now, it means quite a bit to us.

"This has been a goal of ours, right from when we came together as a team, to be in the playoffs for the Scotties and now to be in the three-four game, we're super, super excited to be there."

Black reached the final four in Kamloops, where her team was ousted from the three-four game by Einarson.

"The last time, getting to the final four was a bit of a surprise," Black said. "This time, we kind of expected to be in the final four. Would have been disappointing if we weren't."

Homan's shooting percentage for seven ends Friday was sub-80, but her teammates were plus-90 until their skip raised her game in the latter ends.

"Every game, ice is definitely challenging, and you really got to learn the nuances of each sheet," Homan said. "Huge, huge shots as a team. Sweeping, line calling, really made some big ones."

Meanwhile, Einarson, third Val Sweeting and front end Karlee Burgess and Krysten Karwacki were a more in-command group Friday against Skrlik than they'd been in pool play, when they scrambled from deficits in three of four straight wins to cap Pool B.

"We're in a really great spot, really great mindset, like where you're just calm out there and maybe not getting too much rocks in play, not going too hard for it," Einarson said. "But also, they kept it pretty clean too after we got two (points).

"It's definitely a confidence booster, and we get a little more rest in between games."

Homan, Fleury, B.C.'s second Sarah Koltun and lead Samantha Fisher were named to the first all-star team Friday.

Quebec skip Skip Laurie St-Georges, Sweeting, Manitoba (Lawes) second Jocelyn Peterman and Karwacki were second-team all-stars.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025