LIVERPOOL, N.S. — A patient approach paid off for Team Rachel Homan/Brendan Bottcher (Beaumont, Alta./Spruce Grove, Alta.) in Saturday morning’s semifinal at the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials.
The Albertans and Team Lisa Weagle/John Epping (Ottawa/Toronto) were on even terms for nearly seven full ends at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool, N.S.
But the game turned at the end of the seventh. In chase mode despite using a power play in the seventh, Homan took advantage of Weagle bouncing her freeze attempt into the open and then executed a massive double takeout to score four.
That would be more than enough as Team Homan/Bottcher claimed an 8-6 victory.
With the victory, they advance to the Trials gold-medal game Saturday at 2 p.m. Atlantic against undefeated Team Jocelyn Peterman/Brett Gallant (Chestermere, Alta.).
The winner will carry Canada’s hopes into the 2025 World Mixed Doubles Championship April 26-May 3 in Fredericton, N.B., and, potentially, the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy.
“To be honest, I’m really proud of us,” said Bottcher. “I think we put a pile of work in this year. I think we’ve done a lot of the right things. It doesn’t surprise me that we’re here, but I’m certainly grateful that we are. I’m just looking forward to coming out in a few hours and hopefully playing our best and leaving it all out there.”
Neither team could establish momentum over the first six ends; they traded deuces in the first two ends, and followed with a series of single-point scores through six ends to make it 4-4.
With last rock and the power play in the seventh, Team Homan/Bottcher wasn’t able to get anything going, and was looking to be forced to a disappointing single point, with Team Weagle/Epping holding last rock and a power play going to the eighth, but that all changed with Homan’s big last shot.
“In mixed doubles anything can happen,” said Bottcher. “I actually thought we had some pretty good set-ups in the first few ends and just couldn’t quite get them for a big end. So I thought we played well, we were level-headed, and then we obviously played a great seventh.”
Homan is a former Trials champion in four-player curling (2017), while Bottcher is a former Montana’s Brier champion (2021), and she believes that past experience will be valuable later Saturday.
“I think just both of us being in tons of finals and tons of big moments, we know that we don’t have to change anything and just stay together out there,” she said. “You can get a bounce here and there in mixed, and you’re right in there. So I’m excited to see what we can do later on.”
The World Championship in Fredericton will decide most of the countries that will compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials are available by CLICKING HERE.
Streaming for the Trials will be available on Curling Canada’s YouTube channel.
Ticket information for the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials is available by CLICKING HERE.
This story will be posted in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2025mixeddoublestrials/nouvelles/?lang=fr
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Tel: 204-803-8221
kyle.jahns@curling.ca
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