This was a win that Rebecca Atkinson and her New Brunswick foursome absolutely had to have.
After absorbing an 11-6 beating at the hands of Michelle Englot’s Saskatchewan crew Tuesday morning, Atkinson and her supporting cast bounced back nicely in the afternoon draw with an 8-4 win over Heather Smith-Dacey of Nova Scotia.
The positive result left New Brunswick with a 4-3 record and right in the thick of playoff contention in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
“We’re absolutely just happy that we’re still in it and we’re hoping we can continue playing well going forward,” said Atkinson, who skips the team but throws third rocks while third Andrea Kelly delivers the final stones.
New Brunswick’s afternoon performance was in stark contrast to their earlier outing.
“We missed some opportunities this morning so we definitely wanted to pick up our level of play, which we think we did. We’re happy about that,” said Atkinson.
“We played really well as a team. It’s really important to have the sweepers, the line-callers and the throwers all playing well together. That’s what we try to focus on.”
The New Brunswick foursome has been lurking in the shadows to this point in the week . . . always there but never quite prominent. Heading into their eighth game this morning against Tracy Horgan of Ontario, Atkinson and her rinkmates are at least quiet contenders.
“We’re definitely happy with the way we just played today so if we continue to play like that we’ll definitely be pleased,” said Atkinson. “We’re not looking at the standings, we’re just focusing on what is within our own control at this point and going from there.”
Unlike her teammates, Atkinson is a Scotties rookie. She hasn’t been overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all.
“There’s a lot to take in for sure, but I have a group of girls who have a lot of experience at this level so I can lean on them if I need to,” said Atkinson, in reference to Kelly and front-enders Jillian Babin and Jodie deSolla.
Smith-Dacey and her Nova Scotia group were perched on the precipice of playoff elimination while heading into today’s 8:30 a.m. match versus Team Canada with a 2-5 slate.
The Bluenosers were tabbed as at least an outside contender heading into the Scotties, but have struggled to date. It’s been a team effort, with each member of the foursome ranking near the bottom of the shooting stats.
l Northwest Territories/Yukon skip Kerry Galusha is the latest victim of the flu-like illness that has affected more than one team.
Galusha missed Tuesday morning’s 7-5 loss to Quebec — a game in which the northerners used just three players — and also sat out the evening game versus Ontario.
B.C. third Sasha Carter returned to the ice Tuesday after missing a game due to illness.
Team Canada second Tammy Schneider sat out the afternoon game after suffering a knee injury the night before, but was back in Amber Holland’s lineup Tuesday night.
l Dawn Askin of Manitoba maintained her lead among the leads with an 89 per cent average, just one ahead of Laine Peters of Alberta. Jill Officer of Manitoba is the top second with an 84 per cent average with Jessica Mair of Alberta and Jenna Enge of Ontario at 82 per cent.
Beth Iskiw of Alberta and Kaitlyn Lawes of Manitoba share top spot among the thirds with an 86 per cent average while Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones is at 83 per cent among the skips. Amber Holland of Team Canada is at 79 per cent while Alberta’s Heather Nedohin is in a four-way tie for third at 78 per cent.