Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based club are one win away from earning the right to represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
Homan escaped with a nervy 5-4 victory Friday over hometown heroes Team Christina Black to take Game 1 of the best-of-three final in the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials at Scotiabank Centre.
Although the two-time reigning Canadian and world champion Homan entered the final with the best hammer efficiency, scoring two or more with last rock advantage 43 per cent of the time, her team couldn't convert this time, forced to just singles throughout the match.
Starting with the hammer, Homan was held to a single in the second end to open the scoring, but her team built a 3-0 advantage thanks to back-to-back steals. Black came up short on a draw in the third to give up one, and she surrendered another point in the fourth when she missed an angle run for a potential two points that could have shifted the momentum.
Black broke the shutout with a pressure draw in the fifth end to get on the scoreboard.
Things got interesting after the break, as Homan had an opportunity to draw for two points in the sixth end, however, she had to settle for a single as her shooter was light.
After Black scored one in the seventh, she closed the gap to 4-3 in the eighth as the tables turned with Homan giving up a steal.
The 20-time Grand Slam champ Homan stepped up in the ninth with a game-saving runback double on her first skip stone, setting up a hit-and-roll on her last to re-establish the two-point lead without the hammer coming home.
Already sitting one, the door was open as Black could see a shot for three and the win on her last. It wasn't easy as Black needed to hit off a stone and redirect in to jostle the granite in the four-foot circle, but she couldn't make contact with Homan's rock that remained for the second shot.
Team Black (80) outshot Team Homan (78) in the percentages, with both skips firing at a 74 per cent pace. The biggest difference came at the second position with Team Black's Jennifer Baxter shooting 76 per cent and Team Homan's Emma Miskew shooting a game-low 65 per cent.
Game 2 is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. AT / noon ET as Homan looks to reach a third consecutive Winter Olympics after competing in the women's tournament in 2018 and mixed doubles in 2022. A win for Black would force a decisive Game 3 Sunday.
