Opening day of
Trials shows key will be capitalizing
(MADISON, Wis.) – Taking advantage of what
opportunities your opponent gives you may be the major
key to winning the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for
Curling. Bemidji’s Scott Baird rink did just that to
post a 7-5 win over familiar foe Craig Disher of
Langdon, N.D., Saturday night in the men’s opening draw
at the Madison Curling Club.
In the 10th end, Team Disher vice skip
Kevin Kakela’s attempt to put up a guard went deep and
ended up pushing the Baird team’s rock behind the tee
line. Baird capitalized by freezing his rock to one of
the team’s other rocks near the center of the house,
setting up the eventual stolen point and win.
Disher tried to run a guard back and shake up the six
rocks surrounding the button but wound up only removing
the guard and losing his shooter. Eric Fenson, throwing
last rocks, put up a guard to protect his rocks, leaving
Disher with a nearly impossible shot that involved
chipping his own rock sideways to remove Baird’s rock
out of count.
"Our team played really well. I missed one draw for
two in the fifth, but we didn’t miss many shots," Fenson
said. "They played really well, too. We got a couple of
breaks and we took advantage of them." That, according
to Fenson, will be one of the keys to coming out of the
Trials on top.
"You've got to play really well and get some breaks,"
he said. "And you have to capitalize on those breaks,
because you get very few of them.
Madison’s Craig Brown rink made the most of its
opportunities to easily dismantle the Wes Johnson rink,
10-2, in six ends.
"We got some breaks and they didn’t play real well,"
Brown said noting that the Johnson team was minus the
team’s namesake – skip Wes Johnson who missed his flight
this morning from Seattle. "They missed some line calls
but that could have easily been us. We played pretty
good, but there’s definitely room for improvement."
Defending national champion Jason Larway led his team
to a 6-4 win over Ben Tucker’s North Dakota rink in a
tight match that didn’t break open until the eighth end
when Larway scored three to pull ahead 6-3. A couple of
shots early in the end and a pick compounded problems
for Tucker’s side. The skip was left attempting doubles
with his team’s last rocks, but he wound up with single
takeouts both times. With the hammer, Larway was playing
for anywhere from one to three points and made a double
takeout to score three with a great line call from vice
skip Doug Pottinger.
Becoming a championship-winning caliber team takes
time, commitment and the ability to learn from past
mistakes. The Seattle-based Brady Clark rink competed in
five World Curling Tour events this season, losing more
games than winning. However, playing in that
highly-competitive field has helped the team develop
into one of the U.S.’s premier men’s teams.
"I try to set goals that are achievable," said Clark.
"We know that first we have to come in here and win six
or seven games. Once we reach that goal, then we can
start thinking about the final four. All year long we’ve
been playing with the goal of making it to the Olympic
Trials, playing well and hopefully becoming Team USA."
The Clark rink got off to a great start tonight
defeating Rich Ruohonen’s Minneapolis-based team, 7-2.
"The guys came out and played solid from the start,"
Clark said. "We came up with a great steal in the third
that really broke the game open."
In that end, the teams traded shots that weren’t
quite perfect and Team Ruohonen ended up bumping one of
Clark’s rocks in for second count. Clark then drew in
for three and watched as Ruohonen missed his final shot.
"If he made a great shot they could have escaped only
with giving up two," Clark said.
Pete Fenson’s Bemidji rink held off Greg Eigner’s
late rally for a 7-2 victory.
Down 6-2 playing the ninth end, Eigner tried a hit
and flop from far outside the 12-foot but just missed.
Had he made it he could have scored up to four points
and kept the game going, but the resulting steal of one
led to a handshake.
The 2006 U.S. Olympic Team Trials continue through
Feb. 26. The women hit the ice at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.
tomorrow with the men playing at 2 p.m.
Live scoring, player biographies and more can be
found on the official event web site at www.usacurl.org.
USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics
and AmerAust Technologies as well as by General Motors,
Chevron-Texaco and Bank of America through a joint
marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Game scores: Brown 10, W. Johnson 2 (six ends);
Fenson 7, Eigner 2; Baird 7, Disher 5; Clark 7, Ruohonen
2; Larway 6, Tucker 4
Men’s standings
Baird 1-0
Brown 1-0
Clark 1-0
Fenson 1-0
Larway 1-0
Disher 0-1
Eigner 0-1
Johnson 0-1
Ruohonen 0-1
Tucker 0-1
