Nunavut women win curling playoff opener over Yukon

Updated March 11 at 2:15 p.m. ET

After a tough time in round-robin play, the Nunavut under-18 women’s curling team won its opening playoff match 6-5 over Yukon on Tuesday night at the Arctic Winter Games.

Curling coach Leigh Gustafson, in the middle, is surrounded by her athletes before the Nunavut-Alberta matchup on Tuesday morning. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)

“It’s an important game, but I think we have a good chance,” said Nunavut player Naja Ejesiak said prior to the win over Yukon.

In round-robin play leading up to the playoffs, Nunavut defeated Yukon — the team’s first victory in its past three appearances at the Arctic Winter Games — but suffered losses against Alaska, the Northwest Territories and Alberta North.

“That was just amazing,” Nunavut player Arianna Atienza, 17, said of the round-robin victory over Yukon. “It felt so great to win and represent Nunavut.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the Nunavut squad lost 6-2 against Alaska in a playoff match, ending their hopes for a medal.

“It was good, we had a few misses, but I think overall the girls played really well,” coach Leigh Gustafson said Tuesday.

This is the women’s team’s third Arctic Winter Games and despite the round-robin losses they are getting better, Gustafson said.

“I feel like we played good as a team, and we’re doing really well this year. And I think that’s more important than anything,” said 16-year-old curler Sophia MacDonald.

This could be the final Arctic Winter Games for team members Ejesiak, MacDonald, Atienza and Aubrey Sheppard. So they are trying to squeeze as much as they can out of the experience, by exchanging pins with athletes from other regions or hitting Subway for sandwiches, something they can’t do in Iqaluit.

Nunavut’s under-18 men’s curling team went 0-4 in round-robin play, then lost 8-2 against Alaska to be eliminated from further action.

The Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse opened Sunday and run until Saturday. They brought together approximately 2,000 athletes from eight circumpolar regions Nunavut, Nunavik, Alaska, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, northern Alberta, Greenland and the Sápmi region of Scandinavia.

Note: This story was updated to include the score from the women’s game Wednesday