Team MacMillan forces rubber match at 2025 Home Hardware Canadian Pre-Trials

WOLFVILLE, N.S. — Team Kayla MacMillan has extended the women’s best-of-three finals at the 2025 Home Hardware Canadian Curling Pre-Trials. The team from Victoria is now one win away from booking a return trip to Nova Scotia next month after earning a win on Saturday night at the Andrew H. McCain Arena.

The Victoria Curling Club collective won Game 2 of the series by a score of 10-9 against Edmonton’s Team Selena Sturmay. It was a bounce-back effort for MacMillan, vice-skip Brittany Tran, second Lindsay Dubue, lead Sarah Loken, alternate Lauren Lenentine and coach Niklas Edin, after losing to Team Sturmay earlier in the day and being placed in a must-win situation.

Now there’s no room for error during the third and final bout between the two teams, scheduled for this Sunday at 4 p.m. (all times AT). The winner earns the final women’s berth to the 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials, presented by Connect Hearing at Halifax.

“I think with this win, it gives us a lot of confidence, and now their backs are up against the wall after being in the driver’s seat the whole time,” MacMillan said. “So they’re going have to bring a good game, which, obviously, they will. They’re a fantastic team, but I think we brought a really great game.”

Team MacMillan stole five points in the seventh end to help secure the win. The team made an exceptional double to sit five, and Team Sturmay had an open draw but gave the delivery too much of a kick. It settled in the back-12, which handed over the five-steal.

Otherwise, it was a back-and-forth game, highlighted by some big shots and saves courtesy of both teams. Team Sturmay also did everything it could to make a late-game comeback surge.

“We watched enough curling to know that those comebacks happen, and it sucks to be on the other side of that,” MacMillan said. “We had to do the classic one shot at a time, make your peels, you’ll have a shot in the end, and we did.”

Team MacMillan controlled the momentum in the fourth and fifth ends, aided by some reliable shooting from Tran. In the fourth, she made a runback to open the end and score two. In the fifth, she made a double and roll, which set up the end nicely for her team. However, MacMillan had a rare miss – stuffing a double – which allowed Sturmay a shot for two in an end that was otherwise controlled by MacMillan.

“I’m not going to lie, I was pretty frustrated after missing that double, but I just knew they were giving us chances,” MacMillan said. “[Selena] wasn’t super precise on her draws. She obviously made a really good one to not give up the steal early, but we thought we’d have some opportunities. They let us get two, so it never really felt super out of reach. We just kept our composure and kept making our shots.”

In the sixth, Team MacMillan scored two to tie the game and then opened the floodgates in the seventh with the score of five. However, Team Sturmay scored two in the eighth and stole two in the ninth to trail by two in the 10^th end.

The pressure was on for Team MacMillan in the final frame. On her last, MacMillan was faced with three counters and needed four-foot weight to win. The rock landed in the back-four, resulting in one point for Team Sturmay, but a Game 3 opportunity Team MacMillan.

“I think I felt better about it than my team did,” MacMillan joked of the final shot. “I think they wanted to hit. Coach (Edin) wanted to hit. But I was making the draws all game, and you can’t skip if you can’t draw.”

The men’s best-of-three series also extended to a third and final game. Team Braden Calvert earned an 8-5 win against Team Jordon McDonald on Saturday afternoon to tie the series. The rubber match is scheduled on Sunday at 11 a.m., with the winner earning the men’s berth to the Montana’s Canadian Trials.

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/.