Team Homan wins battle of undefeated teams to claim 2025 PointsBet Invitational crown

Team Rachel Homan (5-0; Ottawa) completed an undefeated run to win the 2025 PointsBet Invitational championship, defeating Team Corryn Brown (4-1; Kamloops, B.C.)  6-2 in the final Sunday morning at the WinSport Event Centre in Calgary.

The title-run marks a PointsBet Invitational three-peat for the Ottawa Curling Club outfit, rounded out by vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, lead Sarah Wilkes, and coach Heather Nedohin, who were also crowned champions in 2023 in Oakville and 2024 in Calgary.

“Super excited to win this event,” said Homan. “It was really big for us. Maybe a couple of tricky spots, but we banded together and grinded that one out.”

The win has the Homan Team brimming with confidence ahead of the all-important 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials, presented by Connect Hearing, set for November 22-30 in Halifax. The PointsBet Invitational was geared to replicate conditions of the Trials, including using the same stones that will be deployed for play in Halifax.

“It’s different here, not as many games,” said Homan of the event. “It’s definitely good to get to play with the rocks we’re going to play with at Trials and get used to the ice and how they’re moving. It’s really good.”

Team Homan leveraged a patient approach in the final with two blanks to open the contest. After being forced in the third end, Team Homan would be the benefactor of a surprise steal of one in the fourth, where Corryn Brown’s final-stone bump attempt for two would be overthrown and miss its target on the high side entirely.

The woes for Team Brown would continue in the fifth. Needing a double on its final stone to score multiple, Brown’s offering would overcurl to the nose of the target, resulting in another steal of one, and extending Homan’s lead to three at the break.

It was a surprising result for Team Homan, who had thoroughly scouted Team Brown and knew it would have to be at its best to compete.

“They were playing great all week,” said Homan. “We were watching them on TV and they were making everything. We knew we were going to have to bring our A-game today. It was just one shot here or there and they kept making us blank or force. It was looking like they were going to get a big end there [in the fifth], but we were able to capitalize on a couple mistakes and get a lead.”

Team Homan would score the only multiple of the match in the seventh, posting a deuce. It proved to be the match’s fatal blow as Team Brown would concede after the ninth end.

The championship victory nets Team Homan $35,000 in prize money, including an additional $2,500 for each round robin win, totalling $45,000. Team Brown earns $15,000 for the runner-up finish and an additional $10,000 for its 4-0 round-robin record.

“We want to be grateful and in the moment every time we step on the ice,” said Homan of her team’s victory. “We’re having fun together and really working hard and trying to get better. You have to celebrate the wins because you don’t know when your next one is going to be.”

The win improves Team Homan to a 4-0 record versus Team Brown in head-to-head matchups, with Team Homan outscoring the Kamloops foursome 30-18.

Team Brown is the first British Columbia-based team to qualify for a PointsBet Invitational final.

The 2025 iteration of the PointsBet Invitational marks the second time the event has been hosted at the WinSport Event Centre in Calgary.

Archived scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 PointsBet Invitational are available by CLICKING HERE.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/fr/2025pointsbetinvitational/nouvelles/