In an emotional final round, the Cassie Johnson rink secured the women's curling spot in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy by defeating the Debbie McCormick rink 5-4 Saturday afternoon.
In semifinal action, the undefeated and No. 1-seeded Johnson rink-comprised of sisters Cassie and Jamie Johnson, Jessica Schultz and Brunt-lost a close match to the No. 2-seed McCormick rink 8-6 Friday afternoon.
Even though the Johnson rink lost their first semi-final game, they still had a chance to make Saturday's final. But they would first have to defeat the Patti Link rink-the defending national champion-for the second time in one week. The game went into an extra end, but Team Johnson prevailed, 8-7.
\We had the last shot advantage, it's called the hammer, in the extra end,"" Brunt said. ""We were able to score our one point, that's all we needed, and we won that game, so we were in the finals. It's tough to try and go home and then sleep knowing that you're playing in the finals the next day, but I think we were all pretty relaxed and calm.""
The final proved to be the most dramatic game of the weekend, coming down to the final shot, as Cassie had to stop her rock in the four-foot circle, the smallest of the house.
""[The shot] stopped perfectly and everything after that's kind of a blur for a couple minutes,"" Brunt said. ""I just remember all of sudden we were all hugging and shaking hands and then lots and lots of pictures.""
Team Johnson heads to the World Curling Championships March 19-27 in Paisley, Scotland. Team Johnson will then continue to train until the Winter Games.
