Horgan rink sweeps through Dekalb Superspiel

Capturing the Dekalb Superspiel last month in Morris (Manitoba) was one of the biggest wins of Tracy Horgan's career.

And it could not have come at a better time.

Recovering from an opening-game loss to Colleen Kilgallen of Manitoba (8-3), the Idylwylde Golf & Country Club quartet recorded eight straight wins, including an 8-7 extra end championship game triumph over defending Olympic gold-medal winner Jennifer Jones.

With the provincial Scotties playdowns only weeks away, the tournament run provided a huge confidence boost for the rink that includes Tracy Horgan (skip), Jennifer Horgan (vice), Jenna Enge (second) and lead Amanda Gates.

"We found that we’ve had a ton of close games, and just come out on the losing end of a lot of them this season," noted Gates. "This weekend, we came out on the winning end, making that pressure shot when we needed to make it, or capitalizing when the other team was missing."

Indeed, it was anything but a walk in the park. Team Horgan bounced back in Game 2, besting Erika Sigurdson (East St. Paul, MB) 5-3, and opened up a 5-0 lead after three ends in taking down fellow Ontarian Allison Flaxey 7-5.

In one of the most wide-open encounters of the bonspiel, Horgan surrendered three in the eighth and final end before chalking up an 11-9 extra end win over Ayumi Ogawasara of Japan.

A 10-5 victory over Kerri Einarson (Winnipeg) earned Horgan and company the B qualifying berth. From there, two more wins were needed to get back to the A draw.

The team was up to the challenge against Cathy Auld (Ontario), blanking both the sixth and seventh ends before making perfect use of the hammer to chalk up a 4-3 win in the eighth.

The momentum carried over as Team Horgan bolted to a 6-1 lead after four ends over Brenne Meakin of Ottawa, cruising to an 8-2 win. Now opposite the tournament elite, Horgan upset Jill Thurston with a steal of one in the extra end for a 6-5 victory.

Down 5-2 after four ends against Jones, the Northern Ontario rink mounted a comeback, needing an extra end, yet again, and taking down the Manitoba powerhouse 8-7.

"We've brought a lot more people on board this year to help us," noted Gates. "Ryan Lafraniere (LU curling coach) has really worked with us a lot on 'managing the scoreboard' better, blanking ends where we would have tried to force them before."

The team will head State-side in two weeks time, participating in the Curl Mesabi Classic from Dec. 19-21 in Eveleth, Minnesota. From there, it's on to the Northern Ontario Scotties in Thunder Bay from Jan. 14-19, 2015.

This marks the first year the national women's curling championships will include a representative from Northern Ontario (as a province), though Horgan and her team did manage to qualify once before as the Ontario champions.