They played in the 2014 final in Virden.

And lost.

They played in the 2015 final in Winkler.

And lost.

They played in the 2016 final in Beausejour.

And - not this time.

Kerri Einarson, third Selena Kaatz, second Liz Fyfe and lead Kristin MacCuish will represent Manitoba at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts next month in Grande Prairie, Alberta.

The East St. Paul foursome defeated Kristy McDonald of the Granite Curling Club in Winnipeg 7-4 in an emotional final at the Sun Gro Centre Sunday afternoon.

“It is unbelievable,” Einarson said after the closing ceremony. “I'm still just shaking and I've got goosebumps all over. That whole game I had goosebumps. It was awesome.”

Einarson, Kaatz, Fyfe and MacCuish trailed 4-2 but tied the game with a deuce in the eighth end and dramatically stole three in the ninth to take a three-point lead coming home.

“We had the game and we lost it,” said McDonald. “We gave it away in nine. We missed seven shots in nine and that's what happens. That's how you give up a steal of three. It's too bad.”

The Einarson foursome may curl out of East St. Paul but they were the home-team this past week at the Sun Gro Centre.

That's what happens when your third's hometown is Beausejour.

“This is unreal,” Kaatz said. “The support has been great all week and to do it here - I can't believe it happened.”

 

 

Kristin MacCuish lost the 2015 final to her aunt last year in Winkler and that was such a tough moment for Jill Officer.

Next month MacCuish will meet Officer on the Thursday of Scotties week in Grande Prairie as Manitoba will take on Team Canada.

MacCuish says they'll be gunning for the defending champs.

“It's going to be a good game,” said Einarson's lead with a chuckle. “They're going to have to look out. We're ready for it.”

How important was Sunday's win after back-to-back losses in the Scotties final the previous two years?

“This means everything to us,” said Fyfe. “Our team has worked so hard not only the past three years but this year we put in so much time mentally, physically, we've done everything we possibly can. It is just such a relief and it's so exciting to get to this step now.”

Liz Fyfe's dad lost his share of finals before winning the Tankard in Winnipeg in 1992 and Selkirk in 1993 and in Morden in 1997.

“I can feel exactly the same thing,” said Vic Peters while watching his daughter celebrate with her teammates. “She said, 'Well we got to win this year,' and I said, 'You can't force, you can't force.' You just got to keep playing as hard as you can and they've worked really hard at the game. Full marks to them. This looked like it wasn't going to be their day but it turned out good.”

And of course dad was so proud when it was all said and done.

“We've thrown rocks together forever," said the 1992 Brier champion. "She's pretty young but it seems like we practised for 30 years for this day and I really feel good for her.”

The 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts takes place February 20th - 28th in Grande Prairie.