The bitter taste of defeat is one that will last for a while for Robyn Silvernagle and her rink from the Twin Rivers Curling Club.
However, even though she came up a win short of winning the Viterra Scotties Tournament of Hearts title for the second straight year, the way that the entire team played over the course of last week in Melfort has Silvernagle excited for the future.
鈥淚 really felt like we came together as a team and we had a great week overall,鈥� Silvernagle said. 鈥淲e got into a groove early and we kept that up all the way through the week.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always a learning experience and I know for myself being in the final this year it was a lot different from last year as I was a lot more calm and patient out there. We know what it takes to play in those big games now. The only thing we have left to do is figure how to win them, but that comes with experience and we鈥檒l gain that grit and fight that you need to preserve in those tough situations.鈥�
After losing in last year鈥檚 title game to Moose Jaw鈥檚 Penny Barker in Melville, Silvernagle returned to the championship contest Sunday, where she dropped a 7-6 extra-end thriller to Saskatoon鈥檚 Sherry Anderson.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 take advantage of our opportunities and Sherry鈥檚 rink was able to capitalize on her chances, which was the biggest difference in the final,鈥� Silvernagle said. 鈥淲e struggled a little bit on our draw weight during the whole game as well, as we were a little bit heavy on those shots and not quite as precise as we had been.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still trying to figure out why that game didn鈥檛 go the way that we wanted it to. I鈥檓 sure we鈥檒l go through and watch it again eventually, but that will be after the sting wears off a bit.鈥�
Anderson, who is joined on her rink by third Kourtney Fesser, second Krista Fesser and lead Karlee Kochinski, will be making her ninth trip to the Scotties later this month in Penticton, B.C. and her first as a skip since 2004.
Silvernagle, who played alongside third Jolene Campbell, second Dayna Demers and lead Kara Thevenot, led the round-robin for the second straight year at the provincials as she rattled off seven straight wins after dropping her opening game to Regina鈥檚 Chantelle Eberle.
鈥淲e got an extra-end win over Penny [Barker] in our next game after the lost to Chantelle, and that was important for us to get that first win out of the way and come out of the first day with a split,鈥� Silvernagle said.
鈥淎ll of the games during the round-robin were close, which is what we expected with how talented the field was in Melfort. There were so many strong teams there that we didn鈥檛 think we鈥檇 be in any games that were runaways on the scoreboard.鈥�
In the 1 vs. 2 Page playoff game Friday, the North Battleford based team turned in an impressive performance as they cruised to an 8-2 win over Eberle.
鈥淭hat was probably our best game of the week,鈥� Silvernagle said. 鈥淲e felt totally in control for most of that game.
鈥淲e had awesome rock placement and really good draw weight, which allowed us to put some pressure on them. When we got a steal of three in the ninth end, we made a lot of great shots and left Chantelle with nothing on her last stone.鈥�
There is a chance that the Silvernagle rink might compete in another bonspiel before the end of the season, but that is still be to determined.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all eager to get back on the ice again, but it鈥檚 hard to find an event at the end of the year as there isn鈥檛 a lot after the Scotties are done, especially this year as everything is happening earlier due to the Winter Olympics,鈥� Silvernagle said.
鈥淎ll of us are going to take a few trips and relax a little bit over the next few weeks, and I think Kara and Dayna might be playing in the mixed provincials later on this winter, but they weren鈥檛 sure as of yet.鈥�
