Kaitlyn Lawes and her Fort Rouge team (Selena Njegovan, Jocelyn Peterman, Kristin McCuish, Coach Connor Njegovan) have won the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts presented by RME.
Team Lawes jumped out to a 4-1 lead after three ends but Beth Peterson and her Assiniboine Memorial team fought back to tie 7-7 after eight. A Lawes deuce in the ninth end set the stage for a dramatic tenth when Peterson had a chance to draw through a narrow port to the four foot circle for a pair and a tie. She navigated the port but slid a few inches too deep and scored just a single and final 9-8 score in the Lawes victory.
The Lawes deuce on the ninth came on one of the finest shots of the event when Kaitlyn Lawes faced two and played a re-direct hit, just rubbing off a Peterson stone in the front of the eight foot circle and doubling out the second stone on the centre line in the back of the eight foot circle.
The Peterson team matched shots throughout the game with the #1 seed and CTRS #4 ranked Lawes team.
It continued a run which began when they qualified for the championship round with a 3W-2L round-robin record. They were the only team to win all three championship round games and then played a precision control game to win the semi-final over #2 seed Kate Cameron (Granite).
Team Lawes will represent Manitoba as Team Manitoba at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts in February, joining Team Canada Kerri Einarson and CTRS #2 ranked Jennifer Jones as teams for Manitoba curling fans to cheer for.
