KIOTI GSOC Tahoe Notebook: Homan Extends Dominant Streak Against Canadian Teams
Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based team continue their remarkable dominance over fellow Canadian opponents. On Thursday night, Homan defeated Winnipeg’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes 8-3 at the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe, marking her 30th straight victory against Canadian teams and improving her season record to 80-2 since the start of the 2023–24 campaign.
Though her record seems unstoppable, it hasn’t always been effortless. In the third end, Homan stole two points after Lawes came up short on her last throw. Later, she took a calculated risk in the seventh end with a complicated shot that ended up giving her team another two points.
The deciding move came when Homan drove out Lawes’s stone, which clipped another rock outside the house. That ricochet helped one of Homan’s stones bump into the rings to secure the deuce. The game, played at Nevada’s Tahoe Blue Event Center, showed once again Team Homan’s ability to balance strategy and fortune.
“Yeah, getting two there was huge,” said Sarah Wilkes, who throws lead stones for Team Homan. “Going into that end, we kind of talked about what was ideal. Being forced was probably the least ideal out of all the situations. Definitely got a little lucky with the way we got the two, but it was a huge momentum swing for sure.”
Trailing 6-3 heading into the final end, Lawes retained the hammer and needed a low-probability shot with her last rock to stay in contention.
Author’s Summary
Rachel Homan continues her extraordinary curling run, securing a 30th straight win over Canadian rivals with a mix of smart risks and precise execution in the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe.