Homan machine into the final

Despite the great run from Jennifer Jones and her squad, there seems to be a sense that Rachel Homan and her rink will be a formidable opponent for whichever teams makes the final. They put on a tremendous performance in the 1-2 game on Saturday night, easily outplaying Jones and her Manitoba team. Now, people are beginning to wonder if anyone can beat them. 

Sean Fitz-Gerald leads his story on the Ottawa rink’s 1-2 victory with an apt description of the foursome.

A young team from Ontario, led by a steely-eyed skip with an audacious streak, will play for the Canadian women’s curling championship on home ice on Sunday night after a convincing playoff win over a more experienced opponent.

And James Mirtle at the Globe adds to the laurels, indicating the support Homan is getting from the almost-home-town crowd.

“It’s Homan-ly possible!”The message on one fan’s handheld sign at the K-Rock Centre was a reference to Ontario skip Rachel Homan’s impressive ability to pull off seemingly impossible shots, something she had done game after game en route to a dominant 10-1 run in the round robin.

On the other side of the ledger, Paul Wiecek exposed therough night for the Jones team, which had been so solid prior to the playoffs.

Manitoba was, by far, the best team all week at the Canadian women's curling championship.But they were also, by far, the lesser team Saturday night.Winners of a record-setting 11 straight games during the round-robin, Jennifer Jones and her Winnipeg foursome played their worst game of this event in the Page playoff 1 vs. 2 game against Ontario's Rachel Homan Saturday night, stumbling early and often en route to an 8-5 loss that suddenly has the once unbeatable Manitobans' backs to the wall. 

Jones, of course, has never taken the easy route to winning. Anything. She will have to rebound on Sunday morning for the semi-final against Heather Nedohin to get another shot at Homan. 

But at this point, the Homan rink looks almost unstoppable. The rink's ability to throw big weight, consistently and accurately means that if they should ever get a lead in the final, it won't be easy for any team to come back on them.