LIVERPOOL, N.S. — Jaelyn Cotter and her dad Jim arrived in Nova Scotia late last week on equal ground with 15 other teams heading to the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool, N.S.
Now, they’re one of just six teams left standing with hopes of representing Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy, and suffice it to say, had they been told that upon their arrival last week, they’d have been thrilled.
“I would have been so excited to be hearing that,” said Jaelyn, moments after the conclusion of a come-from-behind 8-7 win over Team Riley Sandham/Brendan Craig (1-6; Guelph, Ont.) that, combined with other results, locked up third place in Pool B and a spot in Friday’s Page 3-4 qualifying games. “I don’t even know if I would have words for that. Just the thought of being here is so special, and then qualifying, too? It’s like a dream right now. Yeah, I feel good.”
The playoffs kick off Thursday at 6 p.m. (all times Atlantic) with the Page 1-2 qualifying games. The winners will advance to the Page 1-2 playoff Friday at 7 p.m., while the losers go to the Page 3-4 qualifying games Friday at 2 p.m.
Thursday night’s games will feature the first-place duo in Pool A, Team Brittany Tran/Rylan Kleiter (6-1. Calgary/Saskatoon) against second place in Pool B, Team Lisa Weagle/John Epping (5-2; Ottawa/Toronto), while Pool B’s winner, Team Jocelyn Peterman/Brett Gallant (7-0; Chestermere, Alta.) plays Pool A runners-up Team Rachel Homan/Brendan Bottcher (6-1; Beaumont, Alta./Spruce Grove, Alta.). Team Tran/Kleiter won the head-to-head matchup against Team Homan/Bottcher to claim top spot in Pool A.
Team Cotter/Cotter (4-3; Vernon, B.C.) will meet the loser of the Peterman/Gallant-Homan/Bottcher tussle, while the third-place team in Pool A, Team Jennifer Jones/Brent Laing (4-3; Barrie, Ont.), will play the loser of Tran/Kleiter vs. Weagle-Epping.
Peterman/Gallant completed their unbeaten run through the Trials by defeating Team Kadriana Lott/Colton Lott (4-3; Gimli, Man.) 9-6, eliminating the reigning Canadian champs, who lost their head-to-head matchup with Team Cotter/Cotter to bow out in the tiebreaker.
“Just keep building,” said Gallant. “We’ve been playing really well, and the ice has just been a little challenging with the weather we’ve had here, but I think (Chief Ice Technician) Greg (Ewasko) has been doing a great job; there’s lots of curl, and the speed’s good. Just dial that in and do what we’ve been doing, and then hope for the best.”
Team Tran/Kleiter, meanwhile, clinched first in Pool A by beating Team Paige Papley/Evan Van Amsterdam (2-5; Edmonton) 8-6, while Team Homan/Bottcher locked up second place with a 6-4 win over Team Jones/Laing.
“It’s great,” said Bottcher. “I think most importantly we went out and played a real good game against a tough team and I think that’ll set us up good here hopefully for the next game.”
Jones/Laing finished tied for the third and final playoff spot with Team Laura Walker/Kirk Muyres (Edmonton/Humboldt, Sask.) but got the tiebreaker thanks to their head-to-head win earlier in the week.
“I don’t care how it ended as long as we got in,”: said Jones. “That’s how you start the week off, and we got in. So we just have to play a little bit better than we just did; we didn’t play our best game. But we’re happy to be in the playoffs.”
The winning team on Saturday will represent Canada at the 2025 World Mixed Doubles Championship April 26-May 3 in Fredericton, N.B.
That event also will decide most of the countries that will compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, and if Canada qualifies for the Games, it will be the Trials winner in Liverpool who will wear the Maple Leaf 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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For More Information
Al Cameron
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Tel: 403-463-5500
acameron@curling.ca
Kyle Jahns
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Curling Canada
Tel: 204-803-8221
kyle.jahns@curling.ca