While curling fans in attendance at the Winsport Event Centre in Calgary had their eyes firmly fixed on the heavyweight “Battle of the Brads” 2025 PointsBet Invitational tilt, Team Rachel Homan (3-0; Ottawa) was quietly taking care of business just two sheets over.
Facing the reigning New Holland U-20 Canadian women’s champion Team Myla Plett (1-3; Edmonton), Team Homan shot 90 percent as a collective on route to an 12-4 win to punch its ticket to the 2025 PointsBet Invitational women’s final.
Awaiting the Ottawa outfit, which is rounded out by vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, and lead Sarah Wilkes, is Kamloops B.C.’s Team Corryn Brown, who will face off Sunday at 11 a.m. (all times MT).
“It’s nice to know that we’ll be playing Sunday,” said Emma Miskew after the win. “What games you win and lose is really important, so it was nice to clinch Sunday. We’ll hope to still play well tomorrow to keep our momentum going.”
It wasn’t always a sure bet for Team Homan either. Team Plett gave Team Homan everything it could handle in the early-goings on, seeing the match tied at three-a-piece after four ends. Team Plett leveraged a strong draw-to-the-pin score for hammer in the first end and made good on its opportunity, scoring two.
Miskew recognized that the team was in tight but never felt out of control in the situation.
“For us, we were just trying to stay patient,” said Miskew. “Ten ends is a long game, so there’s going to be some great shots out there and there’s going to be a few misses. We had a bit of both, and we were just trying to put a little bit of pressure on when we could.”
The tides would begin to turn for Team Homan in the fifth, where Plett would have a tough draw against two Homan counters, but the offering overcurled by a fraction of an inch, surrendering a steal of two.
It was clear at that juncture that Team Homan had begun to lock in.
“There’s always a little bit of adjustment to make once you learn the ice and the rocks,” said Miskew. “We know the building pretty well, but it’s always a little bit different every game.”
The game was largely cemented in the seventh end, where leading by one, Team Homan vice-skip Tracy Fleury would make a short runback-double takeout to sit four Homan stones. Homan would go on to score six that end, extending the lead to seven, and eventually to the 12-4 victory.
And while the calculated salvos on the ice flew, an off-ice battle had been brewing on the coaches’ benches with Team Plett vice-skip Alyssa Nedohin caught firmly in the middle. Alyssa’s mother, two-time Scotties champion Heather Nedohin, is coach of Team Homan while her father, four-time Brier champion David Nedohin, is the coach of the Plett squadron.
Alyssa still managed to enjoy the family moment despite the loss.
“I thought it was a really good game, honestly,” said Alyssa. “We had one mistake, one end, and other than that, we played really well, and I was happy with how our team adjusted. We kept our head high, put the pressure on and (Homan) made some amazing shots.”
And while the family did have a little side wager on the line for the outcome, they all walked away winners.
“We were playing our game,” said David. “We played a very experienced, mature team. The team had an incredible first five ends, and I was extremely proud of them through the whole game.”
In other Friday night action from the 2025 PointsBet Invitational, Team Jordon McDonald (2-1; Winnipeg) upset Team Matt Dunstone (2-1; Winnipeg) 10-5 while Team Selena Sturmay (2-2; Edmonton) vanquished Team Kate Cameron (1-3; St. Adolphe, Man.) 6-4. Team John Epping (3-0; Toronto) stayed hot, winning 8-5 over Team Calan MacIsaac (0-3; Truro) and Brad Jacobs (3-0; Calgary) bounced team Brad Jacobs (1-2; St John’s) 8-5.
The 2025 PointsBet Invitational continues with draws Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (all times MT).
Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 PointsBet Invitational are available by CLICKING HERE.
TSN and RDS will provide coverage of the 2025 PointsBet Invitational. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule.
For ticket information for the 2025 PointsBet Invitational, go to www.curling.ca/2025pointsbetinvitational/tickets/.
This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/fr/2025pointsbetinvitational/nouvelles/
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