 Brad Jacobs (Photo: Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver) and his Calgary, Alta. squad took down Winnipeg's Matt Dunstone 6-2 in draw 12 action at the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax, N.S. on Nov. 26. By Meredith McCullum In the penultimate round robin draw for the men at the 2025 Trials, world #1 ranked Matt Dunstone faced world #2 ranked Brad Jacobs, both sitting 4-1 entering the matchup. Jacobs took the win, improving to 5-1 and securing first place. Jacobs, alongside Ben Hebert, Brett Gallant and Marc Kennedy, will advance to the best-of-three final, facing the winner of Thursday's semifinal, to be determined after the final round robin draw. "Best whole team game of the week right there," said Jacobs after the game. "That's a really big win against a great team." Dunstone, backed by Ryan Harnden, E.J. Harnden and Colton Lott, started with hammer, blanking twice before getting on the board with a point in the third. Jacobs scored a deuce in the fourth to go up 2-1. After a blank in the fourth, Dunstone had a chance to pick Jacobs yellow rock out of the four foot to score 2. He overcurled by a few centimetres, picking out his own stone instead and giving up a steal of one. After Dunstone scored a single in seven, he put pressure on Jacobs throughout the eighth end. On his last shot, Dunstone hit and rolled to sit three, two rocks buried under a guard in the four-foot. Jacobs made a perfect draw to the button under pressure to get out of trouble and score 1. "It's a huge point," said Jacobs. "Mark made a really good one on his last so hopefully we were going to have a shot for one and we did." Dunstone blanked the ninth, taking the hammer into ten, trailing 4-2, but wasn't able to capitalize, missing a miracle attempt at a triple to tie the game and giving up a steal of 2. With the 6-2 victory, Jacobs improves to 5-1 and clinches first place at the Trials, and the all important bye to the finals on the weekend. Jacobs faces Newfoundland's Brad Gushue in the final round robin draw. "Anytime that you could maybe get a day off towards the end, it just helps heal and rest the body to be fresh for potentially three more big games," said Jacobs on the importance of getting the bye to the finals. "We want to play our best at the end of the week here and and we have a really big game tonight against team Gushue, they're going to be tough." Dunstone drops to 4-2 and faces Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen, who is also sitting 4-2, fresh off a crucial 9-7 win over Gushue. A win for Dunstone would put them in a good position to secure a playoff spot, having already defeated Gushue earlier in the week. "We just got to let this one go and know that it's still within our control, and go out there and have a big game tonight," said E.J. after the loss to Jacobs. The Harnden brothers have won this event before, with Jacobs in 2013. Their experience will be an asset to the back end of Lott and Dunstone as they enter the most important games of the Trials. "I think the biggest thing is not letting the moments get to big, and not letting the moments control you," E.J. said. "If you miss a shot, it's okay...but not playing with any fear, playing with that focus and dedication and fire to win. If we do that again, I think we'll be in a really good position." The men's final round robin draw begins at 7 p.m. AST Wednesday evening. Catch the games on TSN (Canada) and TSN YouTube (internationally). Linescores and standings are available at Curlingzone.com. |
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Calgary's Brad Jacobs (Photo: Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver) defeats Winnipeg's Matt Dunstone 6-5, winning 2 games to 0 in a best-of-three final at the Montana's Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Halifax, N.
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