OGDEN — Going into yesterday's draws, one women's curling team was trying to keep its streak going and another was doing all it could to shake things up.
Leading the pack 4-0, the Kari Erickson Team played probably its most important game thus far Wednesday afternoon in the U.S. Olympic Curling Trials at The Ice Sheet in Ogden. Taking on the 1999 national champion Team Patti Lank, the 2001 national champions won 9-5, taking a commanding 5-0 overall record into the second half of round-robin competition.
"We didn't think we'd be 5-0. We thought 4-1 would be nice (at this point)," Skip Erickson said following their resounding victory. Leading 7-5 at the start of the 10th end, Erickson scored a take-out on the last rock to add two points to their cushion.
Her team's strategy now? Don't let their guard down. "We're going to put this half behind us. We're going into the second half and trying to repeat our 5-0."
That will be a challenge as Team Lank and the Cassie Johnson Rink are both only two games behind. And Team Johnson gave the Erickson rink one of its biggest challenges Sunday, with Erickson barely surviving on the last rock.
They were to take each other on again today at 1 p.m.
"They're going to be out to get us," Erickson said of further competition as they try to represent the United States in February 2002. "We have to keep our heads together and play well for the next five games," she added.
They'll try to carry the momentum from Wednesday evening's victory over Team Lank into Thursday. "That was an important game for us. We played relaxed and kept our heads."
For the 2000 national champion Team Amy Wright, things could not be much worse. At 1-4, their Olympic flame is slowly flaming out. Going into Wednesday afternoon's draw with Team Johnson, Wright made a decision rare in world athletic competition. She withdrew herself from play.
Vice skip Amy Becher took over skip duties for Team Wright and early the change seemed to be working, as they led 5-0 after two ends. But Team Johnson chipped away a little each end to knot the score 8-8 at the end of regulation. In the extra end, they scored three points to beat Team Wright 11-8.
"Amy (Becher) did a great job, but having little experience in the house, maybe it was a little overwhelming," Wright said after the disappointing 11th end.
Declaring her own play this week "soft," she told the Deseret News she offered to remove herself from competition to "light a fire" for her team. "If it would put the team on the winning track, I'm happy to sit."
Unless standings change dramatically in the next few days, Team Wright's chances for the Olympics are doubtful. But she said they won't roll over yet. "We can come out of this with a winning record. That would be an accomplishment, considering the current standings."
In men's play Wednesday, things got a little tighter. In the afternoon draw, the Paul Pustovar Team took down the Craig Brown Rink 7-6 in sudden death. Then that evening, the Jason Larway Rink handed Team Brown yet another loss, 6-3. Skip Craig Brown's team had been the early leader during the trials, but is now tied with the Paul Pustovar Rink at 4-3 after Team Pustovar defeated the Andy Borland squad 6-2.
Now leading in men's standings is the Tim Somerville Team, which defeated the Doug Pottinger Rink 9-5. Team Somerville, which competed in Nagano, has now won five straight to lead the pack at 5-2.
The Scott Baird Rink, holding to second place at 4-2, was idle Wednesday evening.
Play continues today through Saturday with draws at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.; tiebreakers, if needed, will be Sunday. Tickets for the trials can be purchased at The Ice Sheet for $4 per draw.
E-mail: julied@desnews.com