HALIFAX — Calgary’s Kayla Skrlik earned the biggest first win of the 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials on Sunday.
Skrlik’s rink defeated the top-ranked women’s team in the world, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan, 8-7 in extra ends. It snapped Homan’s 32-game winning streak against Canadian teams, a streak that spanned 413 days.
“It’s a really good confidence builder win, I think the best confidence builder we could have,” Skrlik said. “But, it’s still a long week, we can’t just beat Homan and lose the rest of our games. We’re taking it one shot, one game at a time and that really helped, especially against Rachel.”
Skrlik (1-2) broke a 4-4 tie with a three-point ninth end. But Homan (2-1), the reigning Canadian and world champion, forced Skrlik to the extra end by making a draw for three in the 10th.
“Getting three is actually easier than you think in the 10th end when they throw both wings and Rachel’s making everything. So, we knew there was a chance we’d go into the extra,” Skrlik said. “Did I think I would have to make a runback to force the extra? Maybe not. But, honestly, an extra with the hammer is all we could hope for.”
Halifax’s Christina Black (1-2) also earned her first win of the Olympic trials, handing Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes (2-1) her first loss with a 7-3 decision.
That left Kerri Einarson’s rink of Gimli, Man., as the only undefeated team in the women’s standings. Einarson moved to 3-0 with a 9-1 victory over Corryn Brown (1-2) of Kamloops, B.C.
Edmonton’s Selena Sturmay (2-1) beat Kate Cameron of St. Adolphe, Man., 12-5.
Earlier in the day, Homan defeated Black 8-2 over eight ends and Einarson held on for a 6-5 win over Cameron, who scored singles in each of the final four ends. Einarson is a four-time Canadian champion who finished runner-up to Homan at this year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Lawes scored one in the 11th end for an 8-7 victory over Sturmay. In other action, Brown edged Skrlik 7-6.
In men’s action Sunday afternoon, Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., and Winnipeg’s Matt Dunstone both improved to 2-0. Gushue defeated Calgary’s Kevin Koe (1-1) 5-3 while Dunstone got past Jordon McDonald (0-2), also of Winnipeg, by a score of 8-4.
In other results, John Epping (1-1) of Sudbury, Ont., defeated Saskatoon’s Mike McEwen (1-1) 9-5 while Calgary’s Brad Jacobs (1-1), the defending Canadian men’s champion, scored two in the 11th end for a 6-4 victory over Saskatoon’s Ryan Kleiter (0-2).
The winner of the men’s and women’s competitions will represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2025.
The Canadian Press
