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N.W.T. beats Ontario in big upset at Scotties curling championship

Northwest Territories' skip Kerry Galusha makes a shot against Team Wild Card 2 at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary, Alta., on Monday. (The Canadian Press - image credit)
Northwest Territories' skip Kerry Galusha makes a shot against Team Wild Card 2 at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary, Alta., on Monday. (The Canadian Press - image credit)

The N.W.T.'s curling team defeated Team Ontario 7-5 Wednesday morning, in a major upset at this year's Scotties.

Kerry Galusha, the N.W.T.'s team captain and skip, said her team is "really excited" to come out on top.

"We really needed a win … to keep our hopes alive to make the championship pool," Galusha said. "We played well and we're really happy."

The win moves Team Galusha to 3-3, good for fifth place in their pool, and keeps them in the hunt for a playoff spot at this year's tournament. Eighteen teams are contesting the tournament in two pools of nine, with the top four in each pool making the championship round.

'We ended up playing right with them'

Galusha said she went out "really focused" on the ice Wednesday morning, knowing that this game against Rachel Homan, a three-time Canadian champion and former world champion, and her team was going to be tough.

While Galusha has been to many Scotties championships, and matched up against Homan numerous times, the games typically aren't close, she said, and so the team used a different tactic.

What she wanted to do was "mix up" the team's strategy to make the game competitive, said Galusha, going toe to toe with Homan instead of playing a wide open game focused on keeping the ice clear of rocks.

"It worked. We ended up playing right with them," Galusha said.

"We got in a bit of trouble here and there, but we always seemed to be able to make the bailout shot."

Since winning this morning's game, Galusha said the team's gotten many messages from fans congratulating them.

N.W.T. takes on Yukon next

Galusha and her team are taking the afternoon to rest up so they can "come out firing" for their next match against Team Yukon Wednesday night.

"We just want to keep building, keep playing better and doing all those little things right," Galusha said.

That game starts at 6:30 p.m. MT.