By Jonathan Brazeau
VICTORIA — Kerri Einarson did it again.
When the moment called for the big shots, Einarson and her Gimli, Man., team came through in the clutch to capture the Co-op Invitational women's title.
Einarson earned her seventh Grand Slam championship with a 6-3 win over South Korea's Team Bo-bae Kang in Sunday's final.
The team of Einarson, third Shannon Birchard, second Karlee Burgess and lead Jocelyn Peterman collected $38,000 from the prize purse in the season's first Grand Slam event at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
"Oh, it feels amazing," Einarson said. "We played so well this week, and to come out with a win is always special. To start off the Grand Slam season with a win, it's pretty amazing."
Peterman is 1-for-1 in the Slams with Team Einarson after joining the club ahead of the new Olympic cycle.
"It's just been a great week," Peterman said. "Obviously we're gelling, and it's just really fun to come out with a win today."
Team Einarson was the lone Canadian women's team to qualify for the playoffs and advanced to the final with wins over Team Miyu Ueno in the quarterfinals and Team Eun-ji Gim in the semis.
Birchard is Einarson's longest-tenured teammate, now in their ninth season together. She last won a Slam with Einarson almost four years ago, having missed the team's 2024 Tour Challenge title victory due to injury.
"It's been a while for me, and yeah, it's awesome," Birchard said. "We had such a fun week out here, and it's a beautiful place to curl.
"The crowd was great today. We knew we had them pretty much behind us the whole playoffs. We were the only Canadian team left, so we really felt that support. We came out firing today and ended up on top."
Einarson opened with the hammer, but she was forced to draw for a single in the first with Team Kang sitting three counters. Although it looked heavy as the sweepers backed off, the shooter hit the brakes just in time.
Einarson picked up a point in the second on a steal after making a great bump and roll to the button for shot rock in the middle of a messy house. Kyeong-ae Kim, who skips Team Kang, attempted a raise but wrecked on a guard and couldn’t get the audible to go her way either.
Kim recovered with a tap for two points in the third end to tie it 2-2.
After Einarson's hit and roll on her first skip stone landed on the nose in four, Big Shot Kerri did what Big Shot Kerri does with her last. Einarson nailed an incredible angle raise for a deuce to retake the lead.
"Kerr made that peach for two in four. That was an amazing runback," Birchard said. "I think we were making the big shots at the right times this week, which was key."
Kim tapped for just a single in five, and Einarson extended her advantage to 6-3 with a draw for another deuce in six.
Although Kim blanked the seventh to retain the hammer coming home, Einarson ran her opponent out of rocks with her first skip stone.
"It's been a lot of fun. The girls are just so good. I feel privileged to be a part of the team. They're just so close on everything, and it's a lot of fun to be a part of," Peterman said.
Einarson's family was in attendance and joined in for the on-ice celebration.
"It's amazing having my parents here and a few other family members. My auntie and uncle left yesterday, but it's always special to win with family here," Einarson said.
She gave credit to Team Kang, playing in their first-ever Grand Slam final. Kim, who was the longtime third for Eun-jung Kim, joined the team this season and took over as skip while Kang focuses on mixed doubles after winning the national title.
"They're a great young team, and they have a little bit of a lineup change-up as well," Einarson said. "They're very talented, and they have a bright future ahead."
There's also a bright future ahead for Team Einarson after passing their first major test of the season. The season's second Grand Slam, the Masters, is on tap next for them, Nov. 3-8, in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
"This is our fourth event, and we felt like we've just kind of been building every event," Peterman said. "We've lost the quarters of the first three, but it felt like we were playing really well, so it's nice to have a great result here."
Birchard echoed those comments.
"We had strong events but just couldn't quite pull it out in the quarters. To get over that hump this week was huge for us," she said. "We just really built some great momentum, and hopefully, we carry that forward into the next Slam."
