HALIFAX — Kerri Einarson’s rock floated long and the skipper looked up at the ceiling and then down at the ice, having given up a steal of two and a 7-4 lead to the No. 1 team in the world.
Two ends later, Rachel Homan put her broom in the air while the crowd roared, as she and her reigning world champion team sealed a victory that leaves them just two wins away from earning the right to represent Canada at the 2026 Olympics.
Homan, third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes punched a direct berth into Canada’s best-of-three Olympic Trials final on Wednesday afternoon with a win in their round-robin finale against Einarson’s Manitoba foursome.
Homan and Co. now get to rest on Thursday, while Einarson and crowd favourite Christina Black of Nova Scotia will duke it out for the other final berth in the one-game-only semifinal that afternoon.
“Huge,” a smiling Homan said, following her team’s 7-6 victory, improving the Ottawa rink’s record to 6-1. “There’s no other way to say it.”
The rest is big, and you better believe they’ll be watching Black and Einarson go toe-to-toe for the right to play them in the final: “We’ve watched every draw that we can as a team,” Homan said, pointing out Thursday will be more of the same.
A lot of other eyes here in Nova Scotia will be on that matchup, too, since it features Black’s homegrown team. Black’s jaw was basically on the floor as she described the feeling of making it to the Trials final, and for her team — third Jill Brothers, second Jennifer Baxter, lead Karlee Everist and alternate Marlee Powers — it’s a huge bounce-back effort. They started 0-2 after facing Einarson and Homan in their first two games of the round-robin.
“Oh my god, unbelievable,” a teary-eyed Black said after her team clawed its way into the playoffs. “We came into this thing believing we could get the third spot in the playoffs and we never gave up believing.”
That third berth was very much up in the air until the end of the afternoon draw. Each of Team Black, Edmonton’s Selena Sturmay and Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes had matching 3-3 records, and a chance to make the playoffs. If all three teams won, Black was in based on her closest draw to the button. If Sturmay won and Lawes lost, then Sturmay was in because she beat Black earlier in the round-robin.
Sturmay won her game first, then Black won hers — and pumped her broom fiercely in the air in celebration. But then Team Nova Scotia had to wait to see if Lawes was going to win — and she did, on her last shot.
“I could barely watch, I had to hold my breath,” Black said, though she did watch, and she saw Lawes’ teammates sweeping that shot right out of her hand and knew it was good. “I literally jumped for joy,” Black added. “We all did.”
As did an appreciative Wednesday afternoon crowd.
Next, Black will play Einarson in a rematch of the opener that the latter team won 12-5.
Einarson had her chances against Homan, and scored three in the fifth end to take a 4-3 lead, but both teams had some uncharacteristic misses. None were more costly than Einarson’s in the eighth. She faced a draw to the button to score a single and tie things up, and while the skipper navigated past the guard at the top 12, her stone was heavy and slid long to give up that steal of two.
Homan has now won the last seven meetings against Einarson, whose team is ranked second in Canada.
A four-time Scotties champion, Einarson is a win away from what would be her first Olympic Trials final.
The women’s playoffs are set, while on the men’s side, Brad Jacobs’ team has clinched that top spot and a bye to the final with Wednesday night’s round-robin finale still to come.
Matt Dunstone, Brad Gushue and Mike McEwen are all in must-win situations to earn the other two playoff spots in the high-stakes evening draw. Jacobs is set to play Gushue in what’s sure to be an epic battle, though Jacobs has already earned that direct berth to the final.
For Fleury, Homan’s third, it’ll be a second appearance in the Olympic Trials final. She skipped a team out of Manitoba that lost the winner-takes-all four years ago, to Jennifer Jones.
“Just playing not to be afraid to lose,” Fleury said, of the lessons learned back in 2021. “Going out there being brave, throwing shots to make them, and if you lose, it’ll be OK. We know that.”
The world No. 1 Team Homan also knows it is just two wins away from a trip to the Olympics.
“We’re really, really excited,” Fleury said.
