Silvernagle’s long day ends with loss to Jones’ Wild Card team

A long day on the ice caught up with Team Saskatchewan on Thursday night at Moose Jaw’s Mosaic Place.

Robyn Silvernagle’s North Battleford-based rink couldn’t find a way to hang around with Jennifer Jones and Team Wild Card, losing 8-3 in eight ends at the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

After the game, Silvernagle admitted she and her teammates were probably mentally exhausted after playing two other games Thursday.

“That was a very long day and Jen’s team came out playing really, really well and we just got caught a little bit on the ice,” Silvernagle said after her team fell to 5-4 at the Canadian women’s curling championship.

Earlier in the day, Saskatchewan defeated Andrea Crawford’s New Brunswick team 9-7 in an extra end in a Pool A tiebreaker to earn a spot in the Championship Pool.

Just over an hour after that victory, Silvernagle faced Prince Edward Island’s Suzanne Birt. It was a thrilling game that came to an end when Birt’s double-takeout attempt jammed and Saskatchewan stole the winning point in the 10th to win 8-7.

But Saskatchewan ran out of gas against Jones.

“Your third game of the day, you’re definitely going to have mental and physical fatigue and (Jones) probably had that edge on us only having one game (earlier Thursday) and (that game ending after only eight ends) so they came out firing,” Silvernagle said.

Silvernagle praised the work of her sweepers — third Stefanie Lawton, second Jessie Hunkin and lead Kara Thevenot — following the team’s third game of the day.

“They definitely worked their butts off and are ready for some sleep, especially when (Wednesday) night was probably a five-hour sleep,” Silvernagle said.

In the other evening playoff games, Ontario’s Rachel Homan beat Team Canada’s Chelsea Carey 8-4, Manitoba’s Kerri Einarson downed Birt 9-4, and Krista McCarville of Northern Ontario defeated B.C.’s Corryn Brown 7-6 in an extra end.

The afternoon draw included Saskatchewan’s win over P.E.I., Jones beating Carey 10-5, Einarson downing Brown 8-4, and Homan defeating McCarville 9-4.

After Thursday’s action, Northern Ontario had a 6-3 record and held the fourth and final playoff spot. P.E.I. and Saskatchewan were tied at 5-4, with B.C. and Team Canada sitting at 4-5.

Einarson, Homan and Jones all have qualified for the playoffs with 8-1 records and are just battling for positioning.

Lawton said despite the missteps along the way, she has been happy with how the team has played so far.

“It was a tough one (Thursday night) but you’re going to have little bumps along the way but we’ll shake that one off and be ready (for Friday),” Lawton said.

Silvernagle said the team just needs to focus on winning its remaining games.

“Just go play fearless,” she said. “We have nothing to lose. Just go play and have some fun.”

Saskatchewan is to play Ontario at 12:30 p.m., and B.C. at 6:30 p.m.