Team MacMillan through to women’s final at 2025 Home Hardware Pre-Trials

WOLFVILLE, N.S. —  Victoria, B.C.’s Team Kayla MacMillan proved that, even in a pressure-packed playoff situation, patience was virtuous in a 6-4 semifinal win over Team Ashley Thevenot (Martensville, Sask.) Friday afternoon at the 2025 Home Hardware Canadian Curling Pre-Trials at Andrew H. McCain Arena.

The win was a stoic performance from MacMillan, who said the results aligned with her team’s expectations.

“This was our goal at the beginning of the week, and really all season coming into this,” said MacMillan of the berth into the final. “I’m really happy that we have made it there.”

After blanking the first two ends, Team MacMillan’s enduring approach paid dividends with a deuce in the third; although it was a bittersweet score as MacMillan had been poised to score a three before the skip’s draw attempt on her seven-rock ground to a halt short of the house.

It was a rare blip from the talented skip, who recovered well and went on to shoot 71 per cent on the match.

“The practice was actually a little bit faster than what we had seen all week,” said MacMillan. “I kind of got it in my head that it was fast than it was. Once I realized that it’s the same as it’s been all week, then said ‘Just do what you’ve been doing’. I had been really good at the draws.”

Cautious play would follow from both squadrons, but as the ends ticked away, Team Thevenot’s attrition would begin to show gaps. A miss on skip Thevenot’s final stone in the seventh end saw her hit attempt roll too far, allowing two Team MacMillan counters to steal. Team Thevenot would never recover from the fatal blow and was eventually run out of rocks in the tenth to lock down the 6-4 score.

The Victoria Curling Club collective, completed by vice-skip Brittany Tran, second Lindsay Dubue, lead Sarah Loken, alternate Lauren Lenentine and coach Niklas Edin, will now face Team Selena Sturmay (Edmonton), who received an automatic bye to the final by finishing first overall in round-robin play, in the women’s best-of-three final.

And while Sturmay is a strong opponent, Team MacMillan is already familiar with its upcoming opposition.

“Sarah and I actually played them in the (2019) junior final at nationals,” said MacMillan. “We’ve played them a ton of times over the last ten years and they’re a really good team all up the lineup. We’re going to have to be really good all up the lineup too.”

The road to the final wasn’t always linear for Team MacMillan, but MacMillan is happy with how her team navigated said bumps in the road, which included two-consecutive losses.

“It was a little dicey for a few games,” said MacMillan. “I think we really kept our composure and we had a good handle on the ice for the most part. Felt confident all week but no game was easy; that’s for sure.”

Team MacMillan fell to Team Sturmay 10-2 in its Draw 11 round-robin matchup on Thursday.

Game #1 of the women’s final at the 2025 Home Hardware Canadian Curling Trials is set for Saturday at 9 a.m., (all times AT) and Game #2 will go at 7 p.m. A possible Game #3 is scheduled for Sunday at 4 p.m.

In men’s semifinal action Friday morning, Team Jordon McDonald (Winnipeg) squeaked out a 5-4 win with a tenth-end steal over Team Scott Howard (Navan, Ont.). The semifinal victory pits the Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club collective versus Team Braden Calvert (Winnipeg) in a best-of-three final, set to begin Friday at 7 p.m.

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 Home Hardware Canadian Curling Pre-Trials are available by CLICKING HERE.

TSN and RDS will provide coverage of the 2025 Home Hardware Canadian Pre-Trials best-of-three finals starting Friday night. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule.

For ticket information for the 2025 Home Hardware Canadian Curling Pre-Trials, go to www.curling.ca/2025pretrials/tickets/.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible HERE.