Sure, there were bumps along the way, but Rachel Homan, Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes are right where they need to be to fulfill their dream of the past three years.

Ranked number one in the world and two-time defending world champions - not to mention reeling off 22 consecutive victories in walking off with the Scotties Tournament of Hearts honours in both 2024 and 2025, Team Homan are in great shape to secure a coveted berth at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy in February.

Following a 6-3 upset victory of Christina Black over Kerri Einarson (6-3), the pre-event favourites have now drawn the #27 seeded team in the world in a best of three final, with game one taking place Friday afternoon in Halifax.

As it turns out, it wasn't just the Rachel Homan rink who were prone to having a wrench thrown into their plans when everything is on the line in a competition such as the 2025 Montana's Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.

Team Homan would see a 32 game winning streak against Canadian adversaries snapped with an 8-7 extra-end setback at the hands of Kayla Skrlik, a Alberta-based foursome that finished the week at 2-5.

To their credit, the crew that features the pride of Sudbury curling (Tracy Fleury) playing vice rebounded from their loss to win four straight, though an 8-7 win over Kaitlyn Lawes saw the Homan quartet squander a 5-1 fifth end lead, trailing 6-5 two ends later before pulling it together through to the finish.

To boot, they controlled pretty much the entirety of their final round robin game against Kerri Einarson, likely their most consistent challenger in terms of the home soil field.

Homan was up 7-4 heading to the ninth end and still had the hammer in hand up 7-5 in the 10th as they gave up a steal of one but no more in securing first place at 6-1 and the all-important bye to the final.

Homan and Black will play game two in the final Saturday at 1:00 p.m., with game three set for Sunday afternoon, if necessary.