Rachel Homan's gold bid ends with 6-3 semifinal loss to Sweden
Team rachel homan's run at Olympic gold ended when Canada fell 6-3 to Sweden's Team Anna Hasselborg in Milano Cortina, knocking them out of the gold-medal match and leaving the Ottawa-based rink to battle for bronze on Saturday.
Rachel Homan: a semifinal that never tilted her way
The semifinal loss in Milano Cortina stopped Canada’s push for gold after a week that began 1-3 and featured a five-game winning streak to reach the playoffs; the decisive game finished 6-3 in Sweden's favor. Homan, who skipped a lineup that includes Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes, said, “We were just a little bit on the wrong side of the inch, (Sweden) played a phenomenal game. ”
Early struggles and a mid-week rally
Canada’s path to the semifinal was marked by volatility: the team started the week 1-3 and then won five straight to make the playoffs, but the squad as a whole “just never seemed to find their top form, ” the report noted. Before the Olympics, the Ottawa-based rink carried a record of 191-27 and had come in with back-to-back undefeated Scotties championships, back-to-back world championships and six Grand Slam of Curling titles, raising expectations for a gold medal in Italy.
Key moments that shaped the loss
Through five ends the match was tied 2-2, and Homan’s play earlier in the week — particularly her performance against Korea — had been credited with getting Canada to the semifinal. But in the second half, Sweden’s front end lifted its play while Canada’s front end did not, making some of Homan’s late shots “nearly impossible. ” The team also struggled on a handful of lower-difficulty shots during the week, including blank-attempt situations that instead yielded single points when two were in play.
Bronze still on the line Saturday in Italy
With the semifinal defeat, Canada has now gone without Olympic gold in the women's discipline since Jennifer Jones won in Sochi in 2014. Homan said she and her teammates would regroup: “You're not going to win every game, we’re gonna come back and fight hard (Saturday). ” Team Rachel Homan will try to get Canada back on the Olympic podium this month in Italy when they play the bronze-medal match on Saturday.
