If today's M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships semifinal is half as good as the first time these two teams met, then the fans at the Strathcona Paper Centre in Napanee, Ont., are about to be swept off their feet.

Nanaimo's Kesa Van Osch and Alberta rep Jocelyn Peterman of Red Deer are set for a rematch of the opening draw.

In that 9-8 Alberta win, Peterman snuck a fourender in the ninth on Van Osch, her sisters Kalia (third) and Marika (second), and lead Brooklyn Leitch to edge the Island team - which bounced back with a deuce in the 10th to fall one short.

"We had a really good game against them. We had the one bad end that cost us, otherwise we controlled most of the game," skip Van Osch said of that result.

The teams hook up today at 11 a.m. PST with the winner advancing to face Manitoba's Shannon Birchard (Winnipeg) in the final later today at 4 p.m.

PST on TSN.

Birchard edged Yukon's Sarah Koltun 8-7 with a steal of one in the 10th end in Friday's final round-robin draw to get the bye into the final.

The Nanaimo rink lost 9-5 to Nova Scotia's Emily Dwyer on Friday morning, playing without Leitch, who was out with a leg injury.

That meant sisters Kalia and Marika Van Osch each threw an extra stone as it was too late to find a spare.

"It worked out OK, but we rubbed off things a bit because you don't have the extra sweeper," said Kesa Van Osch, who will have Leitch back for today.

"We're very, very excited. The goal was to make the playoffs. We've done that, so anything from here on in is a bonus," she added. "We're just going to go out and do our best and enjoy it. We feel we're capable of winning it and we know the teams we're about to play."

The Nanaimo rink also lost to Manitoba 6-5 on Thursday, stealing two in the 10th to make it close.

Birchard and Peterman both finished 10-2 on the week with Manitoba getting the first-place nod with a head-to-head win.

Van Osch's rink was 8-4.

In men's play, Alberta's Brendan Bottcher (Edmonton) advances straight to Sunday's final with his 11-1 log, while North Ontario's Brennan Wark, Kyle Doering of Manitoba and Nova Scotia's Stuart Thompson all finished 9-3.

Wark qualifies for Sunday's semifinal, while Doering plays Thompson in today's tiebreaker to determine third place.

Victoria Curling Centre's Josh Hozack - with Corey Chester at third, Noland Reid at second and lead Zachary Capron - lost their final round-robin game Friday, 8-6 to Thompson in an extra end after stealing one in the ninth and 10th ends. The B.C. rep finished at the bottom of the men's standings at 1-11.

The winners this weekend will represent Canada at the World Junior Championships March 3-11 in Ostersund, Sweden.

LAST ROCKS: The Van Osch sisters were all named all-stars Friday; Kalia the top third on the first-team, while skip Kesa and second Marika made the second team.

mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com