Rachel Homan鈥檚 introduction to competing against the men at the Pinty鈥檚 Grand Slam of Curling鈥檚 Elite 10 at The Q Centre on Thursday was a rough one.
The crowd favourite on the afternoon draw, Homan and her rink of third Emma Miskew, second Joanne Courtney and lead Lisa Weagle was, ahem, were beaten 4-up in just five ends by fellow Ontario curler John Epping and his crew of third Mathew Camm, second Patrick Janssen and lead Tim March.
鈥淲e鈥檙e learning the ice and it鈥檚 match play, so a couple of runs here or there and that鈥檚 the game,鈥� said Homan, who referred to the ice as patchy in spots, while others called it on a slow side. 鈥淭here were some nerves coming in, but it was a good game to learn the ice and we鈥檙e ready to come back on.
鈥淭he goal is like any other event, we want to win it, but we鈥檙e going to take it game by game, learn the ice and figure out what to do better in the next one,鈥� she said with a stiff upper lip and very much determined, as she always is.
Her first shot of the day was a slightly heavy draw and her second over-curled on a tap attempt in the first end. Epping threw his last one away, already counting two for the point in the match-play style event.
A steal gave Epping a 2-up lead after two ends before Homan made a solid draw against two stones in the four foot to get a push in the third end 酶to remain 2-down. She lost the hammer though and Epping went 3-up in the fourth on a draw to the four-foot for a deuce and finished it with a steal in the fifth.
Critics across the country suggested Epping was in a no-win situation coming into the game, with an expectation of a sure victory or the shock of a loss to a women鈥檚 team.
鈥淚 think people thought that, but to us, we didn鈥檛. They鈥檙e a great team. Curling is like no other sport, they can鈥檛 affect how we play and we can鈥檛 control how they play. You鈥檙e in your own control. We happened to get better rock position at times,鈥� said Epping, whose team curled 94 per cent to Homan鈥檚 crew at 63 per cent.
鈥淚t was a little tricky with ice conditions on a couple of draw shots, which made it tougher. We just came out and played against a curling team and we just have to make more shots than them,鈥� said Epping.
In a nutshell, Epping dictated early and Homan never recovered.
In her evening game, Homan played better but lost in the final end to Winnipeg鈥檚 Reid Carruthers.
OVER RULED: This event features very different rules including the use of just two brush heads for the two sweepers for the entire week, when these players are used to switching out pads every game.
There is also no use of timing devices and along with the five-rock free-guard zone rule, you can鈥檛 attempt a tick-shot on a guard in those first five shots unless it is directly touching the centre line.
It鈥檚 also has a hint of NHL flavour, as a game that is tied after eight ends reverts to a draw to the button. The winning team earns two points (opposed to three for a regulation win) and the losing rink gets one point, which could factor in by week鈥檚 end.
Last season the Elite 10 event did not have one game decided in that form. Thursday morning featured two of the three.
SHE SAID IT: Kaitlyn Lawes of Winnipeg鈥檚 Team Jennifer Jones is here, representing Goldline curling supplies. Asked by Sportsnet TV what she thought of the format, she replied: 鈥淚t鈥檚 like eight mini games in one.鈥�
