Laura Crocker’s young Saville Centre rink will play on Saturday for a berth in the Alberta women’s curling championship final.
Crocker, whose team includes three-quarters of her two-time Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship rink from Wilfrid Laurier University, won the B Event final 7-4 over clubmate Val Sweeting.
The win was Crocker’s fourth straight and avenged an 8-6 loss to Sweeting in her first game of the provincial Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Crocker and her crew of Sarah Wilkes, Rebecca Pattison and Jen Gates will meet A Event winner Renee Sonnenberg of Grande Prairie in the Page Playoff 1-2 game at 6:30 p.m. at the Lethbridge Curling Club. The winner advances directly to Sunday’s championship final at 2 p.m. It’ll be televised by Sportsnet West and CITY TV.
Crocker is 7-1 on the playdown trail, having previously qualified out of the NACA’s A Event. Sonnenberg and her team of Lawnie MacDonald, Cary-Anne Sallows and Rona Pasika pre-qualified for provincials and has played only three games so far this week.
For Sweeting, however, Friday’s loss was her second in an event final. She will play in her third consecutive final – and seventh game overall – at 1 p.m. Saturday against Kristie Moore of Grande Prairie. The Saville’s Jessie Kaufman, who had to steal a point in both the 10th and 11th ends to upset No. 2 seed Crystal Webster of Calgary 6-5 on Friday night, takes on the top-seeded Shannon Kleibrink of Calgary in the other C Event qualifying final.
