MONTREAL -- Val Sweeting could not hide the excitement of reaching her first final at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The Alberta skip made an open draw to the button on the final stone of an extra end to defeat Manitobas Chelsea Carey 6-5 in the semifinal on Saturday night. Sweeting will face defending champion Rachel Homans Canada squad in the final on Sunday night. "Its huge," said Sweeting, who is playing in her second Scotties. "To be one game away from a dream come true like that, it feels really good." It wont be easy. Homan is 12-0 in the tournament, including a 10-5 win over Alberta on Tuesday in the round robin. "Its going to be a good game -- close with lots of rocks in play," said Sweeting. "Well try to get them drawing and hope the angles are in our favour. Theyre really good at the high, hard ones, so we have to watch out where our rocks are." Alberta third Joanne Courtney said the key is to keep Homans team from pulling out the three-or-four point ends they have used to roll over most opponents in the tournament. "You cant afford to miss too many against them,"said Courtney. "Theyve scored a lot of big ends this week, so we have to be careful when they have hammer with what we leave around. "Theyre really good at weight. Sometimes you think you put it in the right spot and they make a triple or something." Courtney put her second shot straight through the house in the extra end, but Carey was unable to make her pay for the error. "I knew shed want that one back, but the button was still open and, as a skip, thats all you want," said Sweeting. Sweeting, who finished fourth in the round-robin portion of the tournament, got to the semifinal with an 8-7 victory Saturday morning over Saskatchewans Stefanie Lawton. Carey, who will play in the bronze medal game against Lawton, was dismayed at a spotty performance. "Its terrible, it sucks," she said, lamenting too many missed shots. "There were a bunch throughout the game. "We fought the inch a bit. We played a great game (Friday against Homan) and didnt win, and played a not-great game today and didnt win. Its just not our week, I guess." Manitoba emerged from the first five ends with a 2-1 lead, but neither team looked sharp. After the break, Sweeting hit for two in the sixth to take the lead, then got another in the seventh when Careys draw to the button ran long. The next end, it was Sweeting who went long on a draw and Carey was able to score two. Then Sweeting was a tad heavy on a hit in a bid for two and had to settle for one. She took a 5-4 lead, but gave Carey the hammer going into the 10th. Carey left a draw short on her first rock, then drew for one to send it to an extra end. In the third-versus fourth game, Lawton left draws well short in the seventh and eighth ends to allow Alberta to steal five points en route to an 8-7 victory. The missed shots left her squad down 8-3 with two ends to play. They closed the gap at the end but the outcome was not in doubt. The Saskatchewan skip looked devastated. "I had great draw weight at the beginning of the game and I just seemed to lose it after the sixth end," the Saskatoon resident said. "Just two tough draws and I couldnt make it for the girls and I feel not so good about that." Saskatchewan looked to have taken control with a steal of one in the fifth for a 3-1 lead, but things went south after the break. Lawton missed a double takeout that gave Sweeting an easy two to tie it in the sixth. Then Lawton left a draw short to give Alberta a steal of two in the seventh for its first lead of the game. A crisp Sweeting double takeout in the eight left a crowd of Alberta stones in the house. Lawton tried to draw into them but a groan went up from the grandstands as she left it short again for a steal of three. She rebounded with two in the ninth and Sweetings rink played with fire in the 10th by letting Saskatchewan put stones in the house. But a Sweeting takeout with the last stone sealed the victory despite Saskatchewans steal of two. "The ice was great," said Lawton. "It was a little keener and straighter but nothing we couldnt adjust to. "It was just a matter of making better shots." Now she hopes to salvage something by taking third place. "Were going to come out and play for that bronze medal because wed be very proud to win that one," she said. It is Lawtons third Scotties after appearances in 2005 and 2009, and all three times she lost in the 3-versus-4 game. She finished third in round-robin play at 8-3 but lost to Yukon (2-9) in her last game Friday. Fourth-place Sweeting had lost 8-6 to Lawton in the round robin. Red Schoendienst Cardinals Jersey . "I met her, I think, a week ago. We went to a Norwood hockey store and picked her out some gear. Mike Matheny Cardinals Jersey .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan had ideal preparation for the playoffs at the Ford World Curling Championships with a pair of hard-fought wins over tenacious opponents Thursday. https://www.cheapcardinalsonline.com/694...-cardinals.html. Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday. Stan Musial Cardinals Jersey . - Buffalo Bills running back C. Ken Boyer Cardinals Jersey . "I knew it was gone. I mean, I felt it," the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year said. "I havent felt like that in a while. I havent got extension on a ball in a pretty long time.PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began. The Steelers placed Brown on injured reserve on Tuesday, two days after Brown tore a triceps while warming up before a 19-6 victory over the Jets. Brown, acquired from the Arizona Cardinals last week, will need surgery and is done for the year. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin called the injury "freakish" in its timing. "Ive been in this league a number of years and this is probably only the second time Ive ever been around that," Tomlin said. The Steelers (1-4) also lost tight end David Johnson for the year with a wrist injury. This is the second straight season Johnson is headed to the injured reserve. Johnson didnt even play in 2012 due to a torn ACL in his right knee. Pittsburgh filled out its roster by signing free agent tight end Richard Gordon and promoted cornerback Isaiah Green to the practice squad and Tomlin didnt rule out the prospect of both players seeing time on Sunday when the Steelers face rival Baltimore (3-3) looking to win consecutive games for the first time in 11 months. While Johnson and Brown are gone, linebacker Sean Spence is back. More than a year after suffering a catastrophic left knee injury in the final game of the 2012 preseason, Spence has been activated off the physically unable to perform list and will work in a limited capacity, a stunning comeback for the former third-round pick whose career was in jeopardy after tearing two ligaments and dislocating his kneecap. Tomlin allowed it is possible Spence could play at some point this season. "Well see how he performs in practice and kind of let that be our guide in terms of how we progress," Tomlin said. Injuries to Larry Foote and Kion Wilson forced rookie Vince Williams to play alongside Lawrence Timmons at inside linebacker and Spence was considered the eventual heir apparent to Foote when Pittsburgh grabbed Spence with the 86th overall pick of the 2012 draft. Spence has spent the last four months either watching practice or working out on an adjoining field with other injured players. His presence in a helmet and a jersey should send a jolt through a defence that started to look like its old self against the Jets. The Steelers put toogether three sacks and forced two turnovers and despite a substandard September ranks sixth in yards allowed.dddddddddddd "I think everybody played better," defensive end Cam Heyward said. "We executed a lot better, but I dont think we schematically changed what we needed to do. We had different guys in there almost every week, and we did a good job attacking their run and not just stopping it, getting guys back and all the guys flying to the ball." Pittsburgh will try to do the same against the erratic Ravens (3-3), who are still searching for the form that led them to their second Super Bowl title eight months ago. Tomlin downplayed any talk that one of the NFLs biggest rivalries has lost its lustre now that both teams find themselves trailing front-running Cincinnati (4-2) in the AFC North. "Obviously, theyre a talented capable team led by superstars in all three phases and theyre defending world champs," Tomlin said. "They dont need an endorsement from me." Neither does tackle Kelvin Beachum, pressed into service after Brown went down less than an hour before kickoff against the Jets. Beachum struggled early but recovered in the second half to help Pittsburgh put New York away. The fact the Steelers didnt go searching for another lineman following Browns injury is a testament to Tomlins belief in the adaptable Beachum, who has already played at centre, right tackle and tight end in his brief career. It appears Beachum is entrenched — at least for now — heading into a stretch that should determine Pittsburghs season. A win over Baltimore and another one next week in Oakland and the Steelers are in the mix. Two losses and the rebuilding process can begin in earnest. Tomlin isnt quite that far down the road. He likes what he saw against New York. Now hed like to find a way to repeat it against the Ravens, who havent lost in Pittsburgh since 2010. "Obviously, our focus is and will continue to be us and how we perform and prepare to give ourselves the very best chance to play A-ball," he said. "We believe that A-ball is enough to win under any circumstance, so thats what is guiding us as we prepare for this one." ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org ___ Follow Will Graves at www.twitter.com/WillGravesAP ' ' '