CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — They’ve already made it further than most teams their age would dare dream.
You could say Rachel Homan’s Ontario foursome has nothing to lose at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts — which could help them, or hurt them.
Either they’ll be loose enough to let it all hang out, or they’ll be satisfied, and lose their edge.
“We’re a little surprised we made it here so soon,” Homan, 21, said Friday. “It’s amazing to get that success early. We achieved our goal to make playoffs and we’re really proud of ourselves. If things don’t go well, then we’re still pretty happy.”
Seeing the competitiveness of Homan and Co. all week, she could be playing a little possum. The old just-happy-to-be-here trick, going into Saturday’s sudden-death, three-vs-four playoff game against Nova Scotia.
Too inexperienced for that, you say?
Not so fast.
Veteran skips here say Homan is no wide-eyed rookie.
“Normally those juniors that come out, you can kind of rope them into a few things,” B.C.’s Kelly Scott said. “Sometimes those younger players need an experience like this just to figure things out. They’ve kept it going. They’re here to play. They’re pretty smart.”
Smart enough to go 8-3, earning third place and watching more experienced players like Scott, a two-time world champ, and Heather Smith-Dacey of Nova Scotia, both 7-4, play a Friday tiebreaker for fourth place.
Smith-Dacey, who won it, 9-8, says Team Homan’s quick success is something else.
“It’s unbelievable,” the Nova Scotia skip said. “When you’re younger you don’t over-think, you just play. And they do it very, very well. I suspect it’ll be a battle to the end.”
