Team Koltun is looking to bounce back in a big way this weekend after a disappointing result in Lloydminster.

The team is looking to rebound with a good showing at the JSI-OVSA Junior Superspiel in Ottawa after finishing 1-2 at the Whitney Field Junior Curling Classic last weekend.

"It was definitely a learning experience for sure,” skip Sarah Koltun said when reached by the Star in Ottawa yesterday. "I felt like we could have and should have played better, but it happens. We all have bad weekends.”

The team's troubles got started when heavy fog in Kamloops delayed their flight to Edmonton by eight hours.

Team Koltun went on to lose their first game in Lloydminster 8-1 to Selena Sturmay's Alberta rink, won their second 7-5 over Veronica Maschmeyer's Edmonton rink, before dropping their third of the round robin 7-0 to Kristen Streifel of Saskatoon.

Christine MacKay's rink from Stonewall, Man. bounced Team Koltun from the tournament with a 6-5 win in an extra end in the qualifiers.

"It doesn't worry us at this point,” Koltun said of the early-season losses. "It's still October. We still have a long time to go, even before our playdowns. Even if we don't win everything, we just have to look for the good in it and what we need to improve on for the next spiel. We've been on the ice every day since

(Lloydminster), just trying to work some things out and try and get better, so we can have a better weekend this time.”

This weekend marks a homecoming for Koltun's third, Andrea Sinclair, who hails from Ottawa.

"We all have expectations of trying to get back to how we know that we can play, get back to playing more to our potential and showing better than we have in the last few tournaments. We know it's possible,” Koltun said.

Whitehorse native Thomas Scoffin also played in the Lloydminster tournament.

He and his University of Alberta Junior Golden Bears rink entered the bonspiel looking to defend their 2012 title.

His team finished 2-1, but dropped their semifinal matchup 7-2 to eventual champion Carter Lautner.

Scoffin expressed disappointment in the loss, but noted his new-look rink is showing steady improvement. Team Scoffin features a completely new front-end, including second Jacques Bellamy and lead Andrew O'Dell.

"Obviously, it takes some time to adjust to a new team, but we're starting to hit our stride now, and just in time to begin our run at provincials,” Scoffin said in an email to the Star.

"We had a solid weekend leading up to the semifinal. We did a good job of managing tough conditions and showed a lot of improvement from our previous bonspiel,” the 20-year-old added.