It seems Kerry Galusha is good for one big result each year at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
This year, she took down one of the biggest fish in the pond and put herself in a very good position down the stretch in the process.
Galusha and her rink of Shona Barbour, Margot Flemming and Jo-Ann Rizzo took down Ontario's Rachel Homan on Wednesday morning in Calgary thanks to a 7-5 win. The victory gives Galusha a record of 3-3 while the loss was Homan's first of the event.
Not surprisingly, Galusha said it was a huge win.
“To be honest, beating Rachel wasn't in the cards for us,” she said with a chuckle. “We were surprised to get the win and it's a big result.”
Homan started with the hammer and scored a single to open up the game. After a blank in the second end, Galusha scored a single with last rock and then stole another in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. Homan scored a deuce with hammer in the fifth but Galusha tied things up in the sixth with a single.
The seventh end, though, was the difference as Galusha stole a pair to take a 5-3 lead, a steal she called the turning point.
“That steal was so big, especially against Homan,” she said.
Homan got that two back in the eighth but Galusha would strike again in the ninth with the hammer as she scored two of her own and it could have been three had Galusha's final stone not rubbed one of Homan's sitting at the top of the four-foot.
A measurement was called to figure out the final result and it was Homan's which was closer to the button.
“I had no idea it was for three,” said Galusha. “I was just thinking about hitting and getting two but then I saw how close it was.”
The 10th end saw Galusha run Homan out of rocks to secure a big win.
Andrew Klaver/Curling Canada photo
Galusha said she was hoping to get a split between Homan and Alberta's Laura Walker.
“We lost to Laura and we played Homan tough and that's what you have to do,” she said. “We got into trouble a couple of times against Homan but we made some big shots when we had to.”
The ladies will take to the ice against Yukon this evening and it's a game which caused a banana peel one year ago for Galusha in Sydney, N.S., as Yukon won that meeting, seriously denting Galusha's playoff hopes.
She said even though Yukon is winless to this point, it's no gimmee.
“You can't take them lightly,” she said. “They played Team Canada really tough (Wednesday morning) so nothing is guaranteed. We're going to go out and play them hard.”
As it turned out, Yukon was no slip-up this time around as Galusha and company did the business by a score of 10-2, controlling the game from start to finish and never looking in trouble at any point.
The event is being played inside of a bubble at the Markin MacPhail Centre and the rules about coming and going from the venue are strict, said Galusha, and that includes interacting with her own teammates.
“The only time we see each other is either on the ice or going to and from the rink,” she said. “It's a lot of alone time in the hotel room but we get to watch a lot of curling and when you aren't curling, you're doing your best to relax. It's literally eat, sleep and curl.”