HIGH ACHIEVERS: Rideau Curling Club’s Team Thorne converts unexpected opportunity into national club championship silver medal

By Martin Cleary

The Lindsay Thorne team from the Rideau Curling Club certainly knows how to get the most out of an unexpected opportunity.

In early October, they were offered a chance to compete in an Ottawa zone competition, which was the first step on the long road to Curling Canada’s Everest Club Championship last week at the Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club in Winnipeg.

Another Rideau rink had been scheduled to attend the zone championship Oct. 14-15 at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club, but it had to withdraw because of a family emergency.

Team Thorne, a talented group of competitive curlers entering their second year together as rink, seized the opportunity and took it all the way to the doorstep of a gold medal at the national club championship.

After winning the zone championship with three wins and the Ontario title with a 5-1 record, Team Thorne moved onto the national stage for the first time and performed with skill while building confidence and patience.

The other members of Team Thorne are third Melissa Gannon, second Emily Kelly and lead Mychelle Zahab.

Team Thorne finished first in its pool at 5-1 at nationals and won its next two championship matches to advance to the semifinals. Leading 4-3 after six ends in the tight semifinal, Team Thorne counted two points in the seventh end and stole three in the eighth for a 9-3 decision over British Columbia.

The gold-medal game was a back-and-forth battle with Team Abby Burgess of Oromocto, N.B. Thorne started well with a 1-0 advantage after the first end and maintained that one-point lead with a score of 3-2 after three.

But Team Burgess, which was completed by third Brooke Tracy, second Samantha Crook and lead Hannah Williams of the Gage Golf and Curling Club, applied pressure in the fourth end, scoring three to move ahead 5-3.

Team Thorne responded with two in the fifth to even the match 5-5. Burgess struck again and inched ahead 7-5 with two more in the sixth. Once again, Team Thorne answered the call for another pair in the seventh and the gold-medal final entered the eighth and potentially final end deadlocked at 7-7.

By the time Thorne threw the first of her two stones, there was a lot of traffic in the rings and Burgess was counting three, maybe four. Thorne delivered a forceful stone that scrambled the rocks.

Thorne’s second stone was on course to be the most meaningful rock in the house and put pressure on Burgess for her final stone. But Thorne’s final rock stopped a half inch from its target.

Burgess, who was counting one at the time, didn’t need to throw her final stone and her 8-7 win gave New Brunswick its second consecutive gold medal at the Canadian club championship. Team Thorne walked off the ice with the silver medal.

“It’s a blur now,” Thorne, 22, said in a phone interview this week about the final game. “Funny, every time we were in a good spot, the other team would answer. It came down to half an inch. It was disappointing. But we gave it all we had and we’re proud of what we accomplished.

“I was definitely the most nervous for our (first) match against P.E.I.,” Thorne said. “I had no idea what to expect. Our goal was to make the playoffs. We did that and somehow made it to the gold-medal game.”

A strong opening with a 15-2 win over P.E.I. and a 12-3 decision against Nunavut gave Team Thorne plenty of confidence and momentum for the rest of the championship.

Team Thorne also had a cheering section, the parents of all four players, as well as the pre-championship support of the Rideau Curling Club and its members. Before leaving for Winnipeg, the team staged a fund raiser at the club.

“Honestly, it was an amazing experience,” Thorne added with enthusiasm. “I’m so grateful for the support of the members at the club and the families who came to watch. It meant so much to us.”

If Team Thorne had won the title, it would have been Canada’s first representative to the inaugural world club championship in 2024. In its first year, the format will see Canada play the United States.

The Rideau Curling Club again showed its support of Team Thorne on Tuesday night with a ceremony to honour the national silver medallists.

“It was a phenomenal run that ended so agonizingly close to the ultimate goal and everyone at the Rideau Curling Club is so very proud of what this amazing team accomplished,” the club posted in a message on Facebook.

“Of course, that won’t stop us from celebrating in the slightest. We’re going to give the ladies the cheers, accolades and praise they deserve.”

Rideau honoured Team Thorne on Tuesday, which was the rink’s weekly game time in the Tuesday Night Open Cash League competition. The league operates under a ladder system and is open to men’s and women’s teams. Team Thorne started the season in group B and is now the only women’s rink in group A.

Playing against quality men’s teams this season has allowed Team Thorne to continue to develop its skills and perform well in its run to the national club championship.

“We’ve played good games against so many really good teams,” said Thorne, who earned her BSc degree in cognitive science earlier this year from Carleton University. “We’ve managed well and are in the middle of the pack. It has helped that we play in an open league, and play against men’s teams. They play a different game and we’ve incorporated that into our play.

“We have so many amazing teams to play. We have to step up our game to match how they play. It has really been helpful for us. We’re able to throw up-weight hits.”

At the Ontario club championship in Brockville, Team Thorne finished in second place in its pool with a 3-1 record and qualified for the playoffs.

Team Thorne defeated Janet Jesty Murphy of Oakville 9-2 after five ends in the semifinal. But in the final, Team Thorne chased Catherine Auld’s rink of Thornhill for the first half of the match before scoring single points in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh ends for a 4-2 victory in seven ends.

Team Thorne defeated Ottawa Hunt’s Linda Dawdy 8-2 in six ends to win the zone title on Hunt ice. Earlier, Team Thorne defeated Dawdy 13-0 in six ends and Allison Farrell 8-3.