Cassie Rogers has already represented the NWT at a major national competition this curling season and she will get to do it again in a few weeks time.
Rogers and her rink of Kali Skauge, Ella Skauge and Grace Twa captured the NWT U20 Women’s Curling Championship on Saturday at the Yellowknife Curling Centre by winning the best-of-five series in three straight games over Reese Wainman of Inuvik. An 11-1 win in game three sealed the deal.
Rogers said she wasn’t expecting to do it in the least amount of games possible but she was expecting a tough go of it from her opponents.
“I didn’t want to put any pressure on ourselves to get too worried early on,” she said. “We had a great start and we finished it off.”
Because Rogers and Wainman were the only two rinks to enter, just a best-of-five was needed to determine the champion.
The opening contest on Friday afternoon was a tight affair with Rogers coming out on top, 7-5, but it was a close contest right up until the sixth end. Wainman held down a 4-3 lead at that point before Rogers scored three in the sixth with the hammer and then stealing another in the seventh to make it 7-4. Wainman could only score a single in the eighth in reply.
Game two saw the two teams trade deuces in the opening two ends before Rogers stole singles in the third and fourth ends to take a 4-2 lead. Wainman got a single back in the fifth but Rogers would score three with the hammer in the sixth to go up 7-3. Wainman would get a single in the seventh before Rogers put the game away by scoring five in the eighth to win, 12-4.
The third — and eventually final — contest had Rogers starting with the hammer and laying down a four-spot to open things up in the first. Wainman responded with a single in the second but from that point, it was all Rogers as she scored a single in the third and stole in each end after that with Wainman shaking hands after the sixth.
This wasn’t Rogers’ normal line-up as she had two players — Parker Waddell and Chasity O’Keefe — missing due to issues surrounding Covid-19. Because of that, Ella Skauge was drafted into the line-up as a replacement player and there was no spare.
But that didn’t matter, said Rogers.
“I think this new team really came together and I’m very proud of us,” she said. “Usually, Chasity, Parker, Kali, Grace and I rotate so we play a couple of games during competitions but this time, we were down to four. I’m really glad we pulled Ella in because she played amazing.”
In all fairness, Wainman said winning the U20 title wasn’t the goal as her foursome is focused on the NWT U18 Championships and Canada Winter Games trials later this month in Yellowknife.
“We weren’t really looking to win it,” she said. “We wanted to play and get better for other competitions we’re planning on playing and, hopefully, winning.”
Even though the championship was decided in the minimal amount of contests, both teams ended up playing the final two games — under proper rules — to give both teams a bit of extra practice.
“Some good practice and have some fun,” said Rogers.
Rogers and company will now move on to the Canadian Under-21 Curling Championships in Stratford, Ont., which get underway on March 25.