 Team Mackenzie Zacharias are the 2022 Manitoba Scotties provincial champions. By: Dylan Chenier Altona's Mackenzie Zacharias is off to her second-straight Scotties Tournmanet of Hearts, after defeating Kristy Watling's rink from Assiniboine 7-5 in the championship final at the 2022 Manitoba Scotties in Carberry. Team Zacharias, with third Karlee Burgess, second Emily Zacharias, and lead Lauren Leninitine, opened the draw with a blank after starting with the hammer. In the second end, the team would make a draw for two, taking an early 2-0 lead. Watling would answer right back in the third end with a score of two, tying things up heading into the fourth end. Zacharias would re-take the lead in the fourth after making a draw for one. Watling then responded in the fifth end with a single, tying things up at three apiece heading into the break. Coming back from the break, Zacaharis would attempt to score two on her last show in six, however, she ended up bouncing one of Watling's stones into the eight-foot, giving the Assiniboine team a steal of one and the lead 4-3. In the seventh end, Zacharias was left with an open draw for two, and while her final shot was a bit light it would curl just far enough into the twelve-foot, scoring the rink their second deuce of the game. With just three ends to go, Zacharias held a narrow one-point lead. Watling would respond in the eighth with a hit-and-roll for one, tying things up at five-all with just two ends to remaining. In the ninth, Zacharias would opt for the blank, taking hammer into the tenth end with the game all-square at five. Coming home in the tenth, Zacharias was able to make a hit for two on her final shot, taking the win 7-5. The victory marks the first Manitoba provincial women's title for Team Zacharias, as they now earn the right to represent their province at the national Scotties in Thunder Bay where they will sport the famed provincial crest and Bison logo.
"I can't believe that just happened, but pretty excited. The team absolutely played amazing today. We had a little bit of a rough go early in the week but [we] pulled through," said Zacharias. Earlier in the week, it looked unlikely that the team would be able to win the title. After going 2-2 in the first four games, the team just barely made it to the championship round with a 3-2 record. However, once the championship round began, the team got on a roll, winning all three games to advance straight to the finals. While this marks Zacharais' second-consecutive apparance at the national championships, next month's trip to Thunder Bay will be a special one as it will be the team's first appearance as team Manitoba. "We got a taste of the Scotties last year, we had a really good provincial Scotties this year now we get to go back to the national stage. Just so excited for that." As for what the skip hope to improve on at this year's Scotties: "Every team there is absolutely fantastic and you can't take anybody for granted. I think we were kind of star-struck, to begin with when we go there and I think we got the nerves out [last] year. Hopefully, we can go there and do some damage this year." For Watling, Sunday's loss brings to an end a very successful week at the provincial championships. Through the round-robin and championship round, the rink posted a 6-2 record, picking up wins against big teams including World No. 1 Tracy Fleury. The 2021 Scotties Tournmant of Hearts takes place January 28th to February 6th at the Fort William Memorial Gardens in Thunder bay, Ontario. Team will have a bit of extra time to prepare for the national championship, given that the Manitoba event was moved up to accommodate for the olympic scheduling. |
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