 Nova Scotia's Christina Black (Photo: Andrew Klaver/Curling Canada) defeated Manitoba's Kerri Einarson 6-3 to advance to the 2025 Montana's Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Halifax, N.S. on Nov. 27. By Meredith McCullum Christina Black - alongside teammates Jill Brothers, Marlee Powers, Karlee Everist and Jenn Baxter - has clinched a berth in the 2025 Canadian Olympic Trials final and will face Rachel Homan in a best-of-three battle for gold, beginning on Friday at 1 p.m. AST. "I've been feeling really calm all week and just getting more and more confident and just calm. I don't know, it's just a great state to be in," said Black after the game. "You're out there, you're just in the zone, feeling really good about your slide and your throw. Yeah, I don't really have any words. It was awesome." Black started the game strong, stealing one, then forcing one in the second. After a blank in the third end, Black bailed her team out of some trouble, making a perfect draw to the button to score one and take a 2-1 lead. The singles back and forth continued until the seventh end and Black blanked the eighth, leaving the game tied 3-3 going into the ninth. In the ninth, multiple missed runbacks by Einarson and her third Val Sweeting, along with a wide comearound to the perfect spot from Jill Brothers left Black a draw for three. Black made the shot, taking a 6-3 lead into the final end. In the tenth, Black made a nose hit to run Einarson out of rocks, picking up her first win ever against Einarson's rink and booking her spot in the final. "I've played [Einarson] in mixed, I've played her in the Scotties, in the slams, and whatever. I've never beaten her," said Black. "Finally, we beat her, so it's a great monkey off the back." Black's rink has been fuelled by the energy of the crowd all week and tonight was no different. Over 6,000 fans packed the arena Thursday afternoon. As Black's rink prepares to face world #1 ranked Homan, they know it'll be a challenge, but with the crowd on their side, they plan to attack the weekend games just as they did this afternoon's victory. "They're incredible. We just got to go out there and play like that and we'll be able to give [Homan] a good game," said Black, referring to her team's play in the semifinal. "We're just so excited we get to play more in front of this crowd. It's so fun. We're living the dream right now." Black's squad formed in 2024 when Brothers joined Black, Baxter and Everist, and the team brought on Powers as a fifth player. They found success quickly, earning a bronze medal at the 2025 Scotties, losing in the semi to this very same Einarson rink. Jill Brothers was emotional after the game, speaking on her team's formation and what it's been like these last couple years. "I've been curling a really long time and four years ago I said to my husband, 'should I keep playing, should I keep chasing this dream?' and he was like, 'if that's what you want then absolutely," said Brothers. "I found myself with Christina and yeah, we made it work really quickly last year. We just really believe in each other. It's really special." Black and Homan are set to face off in the first ever best-of-three final at a Canadian Olympic Trials. The first game begins at 1 p.m. AST on Friday with the second and third (if necessary) at the same time Saturday and Sunday. Catch the games on TSN (Canada) and TSN YouTube (internationally). Linescores and standings are available at Curlingzone.com. |
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Calgary's Brad Jacobs (Photo: Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver) defeats Winnipeg's Matt Dunstone 6-5, winning 2 games to 0 in a best-of-three final at the Montana's Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Halifax, N.
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