By TIM GALL
Special to the Advocate
NAPANEE, Ont. — The Jocelyn Peterman rink won two more games Sunday and remained in first place with a 4-0 mark at the Canadian Junior Women’s Curling Championship.
The Red Deer Curling Centre team came from behind against Ontario’s Jamie Sinclair Sunday night and recorded a 9-6 win, following a 9-4 romp over Sarah Fullerton of Prince Edward Island earlier in the day. Peterman, along with Brittany Tran, Rebecca Konschuh, and Kristine Anderson represent Alberta in the 13-team competition.
“We are coming in with big hopes, but (plan to) work hard all week,” Peterman said between games Sunday.
“It’s going well for our team,” she stated modestly after the first victory of the day.
“Our goal is definitely still Sweden (the site of the world championship March 3-11). Even though we are all 18, we were at the Canada Games last year and got the silver there.”
Peterman says the team is trying to feed off the loss by Alberta’s Nadine Chyz in the 2011 national championship held in Calgary. The Peterman foursome lost last year’s Alberta junior championship to Chyz – and therefore knew they were only one game from reaching the national stage.
The Peterman team has been together for three years, but Peterman and Tran have played together for nine.
“We’re playing well,” Peterman said. “Knowing how Nadine did last year and how we compared to her, we’re coming in with a lot of confidence.”
The Peterman team is among seven at the competition making their first-ever appearance. British Columbia, another new team in the event and skipped by Kesa Van Osch of Nanaimo, is in second place with a 3-1 record.
The B.C. team’s only loss came at the hands of Peterman and her crew in the tournament’s opening game. Four other provinces — Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba — are tied for third place with 2-1 marks.
The Red Deer team plays just once today — against Kendra Lilly of Sudbury, Ont. Lilly finished third in 2010 and is making her fourth appearance for Northern Ontario.
But that squad has suffered three close losses to open the event at 0-3.
Last year in Calgary, Saskatchewan’s Trish Paulsen beat Chyz for the Canadian title. Alberta has won the championship five times previously, behind Saskatchewan’s 11 and Manitoba’s nine.
(Tim Gall is a freelance writer)