 Owen Purcell (Photo: Team Purcell) will make his first appearance at the Brier this year after securing the Ocean Contractors Men's Curling Championship title. By: Cameron Sallaj After losing consecutive provincial finals to Matt Manuel in 2023 and 2024, Owen Purcell snapped his second-place streak in 2025 by defeating Kendal Thompson to win the Nova Scotia provincial men's crown. Purcell, backed up by Luke Saunders, Scott Saccary and Ryan Abraham began the final with hammer due to their better record and blanked the opening end. They were then forced to a single in two after a good draw by Thompson prevented them from counting three. In the third, Kendal Thompson drew to the rings to give his team of brother Stuart Thompson, Bryce Everist and Michael Brophy two points and their first lead. Purcell then blanked the fourth before scoring a deuce of his own to go back in front 3-2. After the break, things got better for Team Purcell as they forced Thompson into a difficult hit against four counters. Thompson made contact, however, did not remove the shot rock and rolled to third shot, giving up a steal of two. They were then only able to count one in the seventh end, giving the former World Junior and University Games bronze medalist a two-point lead with hammer into the eighth. Two more for Purcell in the eighth end was matched by two for Thompson in the ninth. Leading by two coming home, Purcell secured victory with an open hit to win the game and claim his first men's provincial title. After runner-up finishes the past two years, Purcell added Luke Saunders to his lineup for the 2024-25 season, a move which proved beneficial for the team. Saunders, a former member of the Matt Manuel rink, claimed his third consecutive provincial title while second Scott Saccary got his fifth and lead Ryan Abraham got his first. Team Purcell, who currently rank 42nd in the world have had mixed results throughout the season, reaching the playoffs in four of eight tour events. Despite this, they are the highest ranked team in the province and won when it mattered, earning a trip to the Canadian men's curling championship. Eighteen teams will compete in the 2025 Montana's Brier, scheduled to take place February 28 to March 9 at Prospera Place in Kelowna, British Columbia. The winning team will represent Canada at the 2025 World Men's Curling Championship in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan from March 29 to April 6, 2025. Team Purcell finished 6-1 through the round robin of the 2025 Ocean Contractors Men's Curling Championship. They began by shutting out Nick Deagle (Bridgewater) 8-0 and then won 10-3 over Brent MacDougall (Halifax). After beating Paul Flemming (Truro) 8-3, they suffered their first and only loss 6-4 to Kendal Thompson (Halifax). Getting back on track, they beat Calan MacIsaac (Truro) 6-4, Colten Steele (Dartmouth) 7-4 and closed out the round robin by eliminating Matt Manuel (Halifax) in a 6-4 game. By virtue of finishing first through the round robin, Purcell advanced directly to the final. In the semifinal, Kendal Thompson downed Calan MacIsaac 11-4 to reach the championship game. Both teams finished the round robin with 5-2 records. |
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