REGINA -- Alberta’s Shannon Kleibrink will play Ontario’s Sherry Middaugh Friday evening in the page playoff 1 vs 2 game, with the winner advancing straight to Sunday’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts final.

Middaugh advanced to the 1 vs 2 game with an 8-5 win over Newfoundland’s Heather Strong Thursday evening. The win gave Ontario a final round-robin record of 9-2, a game behind Kleibrink’s 10-1. Kleibrink beat Saskatchewan 10-3 Thursday evening.

Newfoundland could have played their way into the 1 vs 2 game against Alberta with a victory over Ontario, but with the loss their record falls to 7-4 and they finish tied with Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones for the fourth and final playoff spot.

The two teams will play a tiebreaker game Friday morning, with the winner advancing to face Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche in the page playoff 3 vs 4 game Friday afternoon. The winner of that game will advance to the semi-final to play the loser of the Ontario-Alberta game.

Regina has been good to Quebec teams lately. In 2006, Quebec’s Jean-Michel Menard won the Tim Hortons Brier in Regina. Larouche is aware of the symetry. “I hope it’s good luck for us,” said Larouche.

Larouche finished the round-robin with an 8-3 record thanks to a 10-4 win over Northwest Territories/Yukon on the final draw.

In the only other game Friday evening, Canada’s Kelly Scott defeated BC’s Allison MacInnes 8-7.

Ontario lost their round-robin game against Alberta, thanks in part to surrendering a pair of three-enders. Middaugh’s hoping to avoid a repeat of that Friday evening.

“The secret to success is not to give up three-enders and not to give up steals,” Middaugh said. “That’s our game plan and sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t.”

Friday’s tiebreaker game will take place at 9:30 a.m. CT. The 3 vs 4 game will be at 2 p.m. CT and the 1 vs 2 game will be at 7 p.m. CT. All three games will air live on TSN.

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