Step one of the challenge facing the Tracy Horgan rink was successfully conquered. Now comes an even more arduous task.
With the Idylwylde quartet of Tracy Horgan, Jennifer Horgan, Jenna Enge and Amanda Gates representing Northern Ontario in the inaugural journey for the NOCA (Northern Ontario Curling Association) into the realm of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the task at hand would be somewhat more lengthy than usual.
On Monday, the Sudbury-based rink beat Nova Scotia's Mary-Anne Arsenault in an 8-4 game that afternoon, before dropping New Brunswick's Sylvie Robichaud by the same score that evening.
The team's record now sits at 3-2. The play again today at 2 p.m. (Newfoundland-Labrador).
Team Horgan survived the first ever pre-qualifying tournament that would be part and parcel of the Scotties, hanging on to beat Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories 7-6 on Saturday afternoon in Moose Jaw.
Horgan, who had bested both Galusha (10-5) and Sarah Koltun of the Yukon (7-5) in order to earn a berth in the finals, bolted to a 6-2 lead after six ends in the rematch with Galusha, before watching the multiple time Scotties veteran make things interesting late in the contest.
Of course, the Saturday victory for the Northern Ontario crew did nothing to enhance their final standings in the 2015 Canadian Women's Curling Championships, merely allowing the team to now participate in the 12-team field for the remainder of this week.
With little time to celebrate their pre-qualifying victory, the locals were in tough in Draw 2, battling Val Sweeting of Alberta. Down 3-0 after just two ends, Horgan and company settled down, fighting back with a steal of one in the ninth end to cut their deficit to 5-4.
The Albertans, however, were not about to surrender points in three successive ends, scoring once in the 10th for a 6-4 win. Enjoying the benefit of a night's rest, the Northern Ontario foursome returned to the ice on Sunday afternoon, facing Lauren Mann of Quebec.
The Horgan rink appeared to regain the form that allowed them to capture back to back bonspiels as well as the Northern Ontario title in recent months, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead of their own, overcoming a three-point end from Mann to lead 6-3 at the turn, and scoring three of their own in the seventh end en route to a comfortable 10-6 win.
The momentum, however, was short-lived. Trailing Suzanne Birt of Prince Edward Island 5-1 after four ends, Horgan scored two in the seventh and stole one in the eighth, making it a 6-5 game, before Birt put it away with one in the ninth.
With a record of 1-2, the Northern Ontario ladies will need to start stringing together some wins in the next day or two before they start facing the front-runners later in the week.
With five draws in the book, Sweeting, Rachel Homan (Team Canada) and Jennifer Jones (Manitoba) are all sitting a 3-0, building some seperation between themselves and the rest of the pack.
Round robin play continues right through until Friday morning.
This is the second visit to the Scotties for the Horgan squad, with the same ladies having donned the Ontario colours back in 2012 in Red Deer (Alberta), posting a record of 4-7 in their initial visit to the national tournament.
