It was perfect. She was perfect.

It’s far too true that a curling skip, an acknowledged leader in a team sport, gets most of the accolades.

But it’s tough to look away from the bright light shining upon Rachel Homan. Not only has she led her Team Canada to a second straight undefeated Canadian women’s fours title, she did it by becoming the first player—at any position, ever—to be scored at a perfect 100% in a Scotties Tournament of Hearts championship final.

Homan and teammates Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes, along with alternate Rachelle Brown and coach Jennifer Jones, completed an unprecedented second straight undefeated run through the Scotties with a 6-1 win over Manitoba’s Kerri Einarson in Sunday night’s final.

In the process, Team Homan tied its record for consecutive wins at the Scotties with its 22nd in succession.

The victory wrapped an interesting week of competition at Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ont., with a sellout crowd cheering the finalists.

“There’s no feeling (like it),” said Homan, moments after clinching the win. She and Miskew will see their names engraved on the Scotties trophy for the fifth time in their careers.

“It’s always a big day, you know, the championship days—they’re always tough, they’re always nerve-racking. We felt the nerves but we stuck together. We had some misses early but we just kept learning and kept sticking together. We made the next one; we made big shots when we needed to.

“I’m just unbelievably proud of my team; we never wavered and we knew we can make the next one.”

It was a tight game through six ends, with Homan blasting back-to-back double takeouts in the third end to snuff out an Einarson threat, resulting in a blank.

The teams traded singles in the fourth and fifth ends, and after a blanked sixth, Homan made a superb hit-and-roll behind a short centre guard.

Four-time STOH champion Einarson, who defeated Nova Scotia’s Christina Black 9-8 earlier in Sunday’s semifinal, was heavy with her draw to bite the pin, giving Team Canada the steal.

One end later, Einarson needed a piece of the four-foot looking at two Team Canada counters and barely got her stone into the 12-foot rings.

It marked the lowest scoring championship final in Scotties history, eclipsing the combined eight points in 1994 when Canada’s Sandra Schmirler defeated Manitoba’s Connie Laliberte by a 5-3 count.

It’s another back-to-back title for Team Canada, after their spotless performance last year in Calgary.

Homan and Miskew also won consecutive titles in 2013 and ’14. The longtime friends and teammates have now won six national four-player trophies.

“I’m so grateful that Rachel and I found each other at a young age,” said Miskew. “We were able to battle through all these years together and go through the hard years and those hard losses and just really get back (to the top of the podium).”

“I’m just excited about this win,” added Homan. “This week, it was so tough. We battled through a lot of games and Einarson’s team just played phenomenal and we needed the 100 per cent to beat them. They were lights out.”

It’s the second STOH crown for Fleury and the third for Wilkes; she also won in 2019 with skip Chelsea Carey.

Even casual curling fans can appreciate the wild ride Kerri Einarson’s ever-changing foursome has been on this season—making Scotties silver a tremendous accomplishment.

“We’ve been through a lot over the last year,” said Einarson, who was backed by Val Sweeting, Karlee Burgess, Krysten Karwacki, alternate Lauren Lenentine and coach Reid Carruthers.

“This was basically our first major event together as a team and it’s pretty amazing to be able to reach a final and play one of the world’s best that have been together for many, many years.

“We had a challenging week and we just dug deep every single game and battled back from huge, huge battles. The way our week was going, it didn’t look like we were going to be here, but we put ourselves in a great spot and I’m super proud of my teammates and even myself.”

Einarson second Karlee Burgess, who came late into the team lineup, has now lost three consecutive STOH finals. Burgess played with Jennifer Jones—now Homan’s team coach—in 2023 and ’24.

Homan and Co. will attempt to defend their 2024 world championship crown at the 2025 shootout March 15-23 in Uijeongbu, South Korea.

The 2026 STOH championship will be played Jan. 23-Feb. 1 at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, Ont.