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Kerry Galusha and company and her rink nab few wins but show great promise at Kamloops Crown of Curling

For a team that has had virtually no ice to practice on in Yellowknife, Kerry Galusha and her rink have done pretty well at the HUB International Kamloops Crown of Curling.

Kerry Galusha's rink was in Kamloops, B.C., for the HUB International Kamloops Crown of Curling over the weekend. The team is, from left, Sarah Koltun, Shona Barbour, coach Fred Koe, Kerry Galusha and Megan Koehler.
photo courtesy of Team Galusha

It may not look like it in the win column but they could very easily have a winning record.

Galusha and her rink of Sarah Koltun, Shona Barbour and Megan Koehler were back on the ice in Kamloops, B.C., this past weekend for the crown and ended up winning just one of their four games in the round-robin.

Not good enough to make the playoff round, though it was within reach.

Game one of the round-robin was against Kelly Shimizu of B.C. on Oct. 20, which ended in an 8-5 loss. Galusha trailed 3-2 at the midway point and gave up steals in the fifth and sixth ends but came back with three in the seventh to tie the game at 5-5.

Coming home without last rock, she had to steal in order to win and the chance was there, she said.

“We controlled it but my last draw picked,” she said. “We had it set up for the steal but it was just bad luck and they scored three.”

Galusha said they were in control of the game and it all came down to Shimizu bailing her team out when it mattered.

“We just ran into a hot skip that game and that happens,” she said. “It was frustrating because we all played so well that game but she got them out of trouble every time.”

Game two went Galusha's way as she beat Diane Gushulak of B.C. 6-3, running Gushulak out of rocks in the eighth end to even up their record 1-1. Next up was Kesa Van Osch of B.C., which was a 7-5 extra-end loss, a defeat which upset the team the most simply because of Van Osch's last shot.

Galusha managed a deuce in the eighth end to tie the game to force bonus curling and had the extra end set up perfectly for a steal. Problem was Van Osch pulled off a Hail Mary, as Galusha called it, to score two and win it, 7-5.

Galusha still doesn't know how Van Osch did it.

“We played a perfect end,” she said. “She played a shot that we just didn't see her making. She moved about four or five rocks and got her counter.”

The final round-robin game was against Dailene Pewarchuk of B.C. in a game that was just for standing given there was no avenue to get into the playoffs at that point. Still, Galusha had a chance to win it in an extra end and had her fate in her hands with the hammer coming home.

Her final draw came up short, giving Pewarchuk a steal of one to win, 5-4.

“I played an in-turn draw and it's a really simple shot,” she said. “It just came up short and they stole the point. It just dug (in the ice) but I'd play that same shot again.”

Pewarchuk would eventually go on to win the spiel.

Even with the result, Galusha is still happy with how the team played and she said her rink could easily be 8-0 in the win column.

“We were 1-3 in Toronto (StuSells Tankard) and 1-3 in Kamloops but we had a chance to win all eight of those games, which is something considering we've had very little ice time,” she said.

“We had a lunchtime practice the day before we left for Kamloops and if we get in more practice, we'll be good. This team is really smart and we know what we have to do. When we make mistakes, we're able to make the adjustments.”