Roundup: Shield gets back on track with win over Frontier

TORONTO — Shield Curling Club bounced back into the win column with a 2-1 victory over Frontier Curling Club during Thursday’s Rock League action at TMU Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Shield’s men’s team held on for a 7-6 victory, while the women’s squad hammered out a 10-1 rout. The mixed doubles team came close to completing a sweep, but fell 6-5 in a draw-to-the-button shootout. 

After losing two consecutive matches, Shield is now level with a 2-2 record in the debut season of Rock League. Frontier dropped to 1-3, with one round-robin game to go Friday for each franchise before Saturday’s seeding matches. The top four franchises advance to Sunday’s playoff stage. 

“We needed that one,” said Shield captain Brad Jacobs, who skips the men's team. “We needed to bounce back after a couple of losses. It's really nice to see our women's side getting into a groove and our mixed doubles team is in every single game. I think our men's team is rolling pretty good too, so that was a big win.” 

Jacobs pulled off a split to score four in the second end and stole a pair of points in the fifth to hold a commanding 7-2 lead with two ends remaining.

Frontier skip Danny Casper got two back in the sixth and had shot rock locked on the pinhole in the seventh for a potential two points plus another stone above in the four-foot circle blocking it. Jacobs had second shot though in the four-foot as well and opted to just throw his last away to give up the pair of points but secure the victory. 

Meanwhile, Einarson counted three in the first then rode away on the steal train, swiping two in the second and back-to-back singles in the third and fourth. Frontier, skipped by Tabitha Peterson, was limited to a single in five, and Einarson matched with a point back in six then stole a couple more in seven to hit double digits.

Total points scored is the tiebreaker in the standings, making every one count should it come down to it.

“We put a lot of points on the board. Our points score was good going into that game and to add even more to that was dynamite,” Jacobs said. 

Shield’s Marlee Powers shot first in the mixed doubles shootout, but her rock rolled deep, and sweeper Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel eased up as it stopped at the back of the eight-foot circle. Taylor Anderson-Heide and captain Korey Dropkin were right on target with their shooter, biting a piece of the button just for kicks. 

“Yeah, it felt really good,” Anderson-Heide said. “It's nice having a pressure draw and Korey sweeps it perfect, so I just know I had to give it to him.”

Frontier held the hammer in the eighth end, trailing by one, but was unable to generate a multiple score with its power play. Anderson-Heide drew for just a single, however, it helped give her a practice shot for the shootout. 

“Mixed doubles is great for draw weight, so I felt confident throwing it,” she said. “Korey's a great sweeper like I said, and I felt comfortable throwing that out-turn.”

Up next 

Northern United vs. Typhoon Curling Club at 3:30 p.m. ET 

Maple United vs. Alpine Curling Club at 7 p.m. ET