Winnipeg's Kaitlyn Lawes secures 10th trip to national women's curling championship

Kaitlyn Lawes will have a familiar symbol on her back next month in Calgary.

Lawes and her team from the Fort Rouge Curling Club in Winnipeg captured the Manitoba women's curling championship, knocking off Beth Peterson 9-8 in Sunday afternoon's final at Access Event Centre in Morden.

In just her second year skipping after splitting from Jennifer Jones, Lawes is going to the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts with a buffalo on her back.

In a back-and-forth matchup against Peterson, Lawes, third Selena Njegovan, second Jocelyn Peterman and lead Kristin MacCuish capitalized with the hammer, scoring deuces in four of their five opportunities, including a sensational shot for two by the skip in the ninth end to go up 9-7.

Peterson, third Kelsey Rocque, second Katherine Doerksen and lead Melissa Kurz had a chance to tie in the 10th and force an extra end, but the Assiniboine Memorial club squad couldn't deliver a game-tying draw for two.

Doerksen and Peterson were part of Team Wild Card 3 at the 2021 Scotties, going 7-5 en route to a fifth-place finish in Calgary.

Lawes concluded championship-round play in Morden with a 7-1 record, while Peterson was 6-2 and had to play Kate Cameron and her team from the Granite club in Sunday morning's semifinal, winning 8-4 to earn a spot in the final.

For Lawes, it will be her 10th appearance at the national women's curling championship, but just the first time since 2018 that she heads to the Scotties fresh off winning provincials.

Team Lawes was at last year's event in Kamloops, B.C., as Team Wild Card 1, but Laura Walker subbed in for a pregnant Njegovan.

The team posted a 5-3 record in pool play, but fell 7-6 to Nova Scotia's Christina Black in a tiebreaker.

Jones and four-time defending Canadian champion Kerri Einarson of Gimli have already secured their spots in the 18-team national championship field, which runs Feb. 16-25 in Calgary.

Einarson defeated Jones 10-4 in an all-Manitoba final last year.