It took four tries, but Canada is finally in the win column in women's curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Rachel Homan's rink was dominant from start to finish over the United States in an 11-3 victory, improving the Canadians' record to 1-3 after the team opened their tournament with three-straight losses.
Canada jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first end and never looked back. The Canadians scored three points in the fifth end and four in the seventh to put the nail in the coffin of the Americans, who drop to 2-3 in the tournament.
Canada's @TeamHoman gets their first win of #PyeongChang2018 in a dominating 11-3 win over USA 🥌 https://t.co/35jsZWPSN9 pic.twitter.com/88HAuH4xO3
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 17, 2018
Winter Olympics: Canada suffers first men's curling loss with defeat to Sweden
It was the Canadian women's first game since the burned rock controversy vs. Denmark, when Homan chose to remove a rock that was slightly touched by a Danish sweeper's broom. Denmark won that game, 9-8.
Homan and her teammates held a closed-door meeting after that loss, with a renewed focus on ignoring the first three matches and starting anew.
"We all said things that were really important to help us get to be where we need to be," Homan told the CBC's Devin Heroux. "We know each other so well and we knew what to say to get ourselves in the best frame of mind."
"We wanted to come out relaxed, enjoy this experience," Emma Miskew said. "We want to be the team we know we can be, and if the stars align, that's great."
Whatever was said in the team-only meeting worked, as the Canadians looked a completely different squad against the Americans.
"We just let go of what happened in the first three games," Miskew said. "It's a fresh start today and we've played with our backs against the wall a bunch of times and it's worked for us."
"I know everyone back home is cheering hard and supporting us. I'm just as gutted over our losses as they all were. It's tough on this stage," Homan said after Saturday's victory. "We have to be the team we know we can be now."
The Canadians are back in action against Switzerland at 12:05 a.m. ET Sunday.