Team Crough, which includes Cochrane curler Julianna MacKenzie, is heading to the Alberta Scotties in January.

Over the weekend, they were one of two teams advancing to the Alberta Scotties from the women's playdowns in Vulcan. Six teams were in the running.

The other six teams in the Alberta Scotties, being hosted in Grande Prairie from Jan. 3 to 9, prequalified.

"We were refocusing after a tough loss at nationals and set a new goal for the season," says MacKenzie. "We took care of business on the ice, and we're really happy with the outcome."

"We've been training hard, and it's nice to see our work off the ice come into play now."

The Crough rink will be the youngest women's team competing in the Alberta Scotties.

"We're definitely the underdogs, but people can expect us to make a lot of shots," she says.

"Playing these top teams, shot-making ability and executing comes into play. You can't make as many mistakes as if you were playing more inexperienced teams."

The team is hot off of the national World Junior Qualifier, where they won silver and came oh so close to representing Canada at the world juniors in Sweden in March.

They made a valiant comeback in a final against Northern Ontario but fell just short. Down 7-4 heading into the final end, they stole two to lose 7-6. 

"We were disappointed and hurt, and we'll still be grieving, but looking back now we put ourselves in a  position to have the opportunity to represent Canada at Sweden, and you know we hold our heads high and look back and are proud of our accomplishments."

Now the team will take a quick break, rest mentally, practice, and take time to spend with family at Christmas.