Team Ontario improves playoff chances at the 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts

Before Tuesday afternoon’s draw, Pool A had four teams targeting its third-place slot.

Ontario’s Team Hailey Armstrong (3-2; Whitby, Ont.), British Columbia’s Team Taylor Reese-Hansen (2-3; Victoria, B.C.), Saskatchewan’s Team Jolene Campbell (2-3; Regina), and Nova Scotia’s Team Taylour Stevens (3-2; Halifax) all took the ice for Draw 11 at the 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts sitting at a 2-2 record.

But, in the matchup between Armstrong and Reese-Hansen, it was Ontario that came out on top with a 7-3 win.

“It feels great, we’re not really looking at the record,” said Armstrong. “It’s really hard to not look at the record, obviously. That was a big game. That’s a really good team. You know, they’re a U-25 team. They’re a very strong team, and they don’t miss much.”

Team Ontario, comprised of skip Hailey Armstrong, vice-skip/third Grace Lloyd, second Michaela Robert, lead Rachel Steele, alternate Lori Eddy, and coach Stephen Robert, has had a strong start on home-province ice at the Paramount Fine Food Centre in Mississauga, Ont.

“We make sure that we overcommunicate in games, just take one rock at a time and be there for each other, and just try to play loose is kind of our key thing,” said Armstrong. “So just sticking together really is a great recipe for us.”

The Whitby Curling Club foursome kept control through nine ends and pulled away with a deuce in the fourth. In the seventh end, Armstrong picked up another two points on a tap with her last stone.

A late opportunity for Reese-Hansen came in the eighth end. The British Columbia skip had to make a triple to secure her first deuce of the game, but just missed the last rock and settled for another single on the scoreboard.

“A lot of things [went right], you know; tolerance is one of them,” said Armstrong. “You know, if you have the right tolerance on a lot of shots, sometimes those win curling games. So good tolerance, good shot making, our good communication, sticking together when we know we need to, and scoreboard management —all the right things are what we did together today.”

Meanwhile, on the next sheet over, Team Nova Scotia – Stevens easily handled the Northwest Territories’ Team Nicky Kaufman (1-4; Yellowknife) 10-4 to tie Armstrong’s record in the Pool A standings.

Stevens’ crew needed the win after two back-to-back losses against the pool’s top contenders: Canada’s Team Kerri Einarson (5-1; Gilmi, Man.) and Manitoba’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes (6-0; Winnipeg).

However, Armstrong and Stevens won’t meet each other until the last round-robin draw on Thursday evening.

In other Tuesday afternoon action, Team Lawes bested Yukon’s Team Bayly Scoffin (0-6; Whitehorse) 9-4 to clinch a spot in the playoffs, while Team Einarson beat Team Saskatchewan 10-4.

The 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts continues Tuesday with a draw at 7 p.m. (all times Eastern).

Live scoring, standings, and statistics for the 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/.

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For ticket information for the 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, go to www.curling.ca/2026scotties/tickets/.