Corryn Brown's rink had represented B.C. in the last two Scotties (Image Credit: Twitter / Corryn Brown)
HEARTBREAKING LOSS

‘It stings a little more’: Brown rink from Kamloops narrowly misses out on playing in home Scotties

Jan 16, 2023 | 2:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s one of those losses you will never forget.

Erin Pincott and the Corryn Brown rink had a chance to represent B.C. at the Scotties in their hometown, but there were a few missed opportunities and they ultimately lost in Sunday’s provincial final.

“It’s raw. I get emotional talking about it,” Pincott told CFJC Today, trying to hold back tears. “One of those things where you don’t know if you’ll get that opportunity again.”

Brown added, “It’s never easy losing a provincial final, but when the stakes are to play at home at a Scotties it stings a little bit more. It’s going to take a while to get over this one.”

Brown is trying to give herself some grace after such a crushing defeat — 10-9 in extra ends to the Clancy Grandy rink from the Lower Mainland.

After going unbeaten throughout the tournament, it was a slow start for the Brown rink, giving up a steal of two in the first and a steal of one in the second.

“To go down early like that with those steals to start is obviously not ideal,” noted Pincott. “It’s hard to start out that way and feel like you’re constantly playing catch up and then potentially just some steals that we maybe made sure we scored or a couple rocks here and there that we maybe could’ve managed a bit better to put ourselves in a bit better of a position.”

They bounced back with a five in the third end, but then gave up another steal in the fifth. Brown got it to extra ends with one in the 10th, but narrowly missed a shot to keep the team alive.

“I think there were some missed opportunities on both sides. The steal [in the fifth] made a difference between us being up two compared to being tied, so that was a huge point swing there,” said Brown. “My shot there in the 10th end, not making contact definitely impacted that. We still were fortunate to have a shot to tie it up to get it to an extra end. I can’t really point to one specific instance. I think there were a few opportunities missed.”

Pincott added, “Looking back on that game and the week, I really felt like we stayed as a team and had a really solid performance, so I think it’s almost a tougher pill to swallow and you could’ve, on any given day, won.”

They are missed opportunities that will eat away at the team, especially when the Scotties comes to Kamloops from Feb. 17-26.

While the emotions are raw right now, they will do their best to be there and enjoy the first women’s national curling championship in the city.

“I’m not sure what that’ll look like at this point,” said Brown, 24 hours after the B.C. finals loss. “Obviously it’s a huge event to have in our city, so I’ll definitely be there to support where I can. It’s always a challenging thing to participate in when you had a chance to be there.”

Pincott added, “We’ll have fellow curlers and friends from across the country competing it, so it’ll be nice to watch and take part in the ‘Patch’ and the atmosphere. Right now, that seems like that’ll be difficult, but there’s still a month to go and we’ll see when the time comes.”