A rare loss might not have been exactly what the Rachel Homan rink was envisioning early in the week of the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax, but it most certainly has not altered the end goal for the two-time defending World champions.

After posting lopsided wins over both Kate Cameron (16-5) and Christina Black (8-2), the juggernaut rink that includes Sudbury native Tracy Fleury at vice were stunned 8-7 in extra ends by the Kayla Skrlik rink that was 0-2 entering the Sunday evening matchup.

Just how much of a rarity was this setback?

Well, in capturing the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in each of the past two years while posting an unblemished 11-0 mark, Team Homan ran up a streak of 32 consecutive victories against opponents from Canada.

Thankfully, a 12-5 triumph Monday versus Selena Sturmay means that the pre-event favourites to emerge as the Canadian Olympic hopefuls in Italy in February still trail only Kerri Einarson (4-0) as they pass the midway point in round robin play, needing a top three finish to qualify for semi-final action on Thursday.

Their remaining scheduled games include a pair of encounters on Tuesday against Christina Black and Kaitlyn Lawes prior to their showdown with Einarson on Wednesday afternoon.

Over on the men's side, skip John Epping and his team of Jake and Tanner Horgan (both from Sudbury) and Ian McMillan have their work cut out for them, posting a record of 1-3 at the moment.

Team Epping have been in the mix in each and every outing, falling to Matt Dunstone (6-3) on Saturday, getting that one back with a 9-5 win over Mike McEwen but suffering a pair of losses on Monday, beaten by Brad Gushue (5-3) and Rylan Kleiter (9-5).

Team Dunstone (4-0) is currently showing the way in the men's standings, with Brad Jacobs and Brad Gushue in hot pursuit at 3-1.