 Matt Dunstone (photo: Andrew Klaver/Curling Canada) defeats Mike McEwen 9-5 in the semifinal at the 2025 Montana's Canadian Curling Trials Halifax, N.S. on Nov. 27. By Meredith McCullum Twenty-four hours ago, Winnipeg's Matt Dunstone squad thought their Olympic dream was over following a 9-5 loss to Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen in the final round robin draw. Dunstone, Colton Lott, E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden were left watching a tense matchup between Newfoundland's Brad Gushue and Alberta's Brad Jacobs to see if they would move on to the semifinal or be eliminated. Gushue missed a triple for the win, handing Jacobs a sixth victory on the week and giving #2 World-Ranked Dunstone another life and a chance at redemption against McEwen in the semi. "There is still that chance there, we'll have to sit back, wait and see," said Dunstone after the round robin loss, before he knew whether or not his squad would advance. "If we get this opportunity, we're just going to leave it all out there tomorrow." And leave it all out there he did, reversing the previous nights' score with a 9-5 win over McEwen, and advancing to a best-of-three final against Jacobs. "Curling Gods gifted us one yesterday, gave us this opportunity," said Dunstone following the victory. "You don't want to pass up on these opportunities and didn't. Just really proud of the group." The game started out slow, with both teams feeling out the ice and trading singles. McEwen scored a deuce in the third to take a 3-1 lead. In the fourth, Dunstone's sharp shooting magic came back as he made an in-off on his final shot to score two. Dunstone shouted in excitement when the rocks made contact, knowing the importance of that shot in such a tight battle. Dunstone applied more pressure in the fifth, forcing McEwen to draw to the pin for one, against two yellow stones in the four-foot. An end to end sweep by third Colton Lott and lead Dan Marsh got the rock right where it needed to be, securing a 3-2 lead for McEwen's squad after five ends. In the sixth end, McEwen's sweepers got stuck between two shots, leaving their last stone edge to edge with Dunstone's shot rock, and setting Dunstone up for a double to score three massive points. Dunstone made the shot and took a 5-3 lead. After a blank in seven, McEwen was forced to one point in the eighth. Dunstone picked up two more in the ninth, increasing his lead to 8-5 heading into the final end. The tenth end was wild. Up three points, Dunstone put rocks in play instead of hitting, leading to a messy end with 13/14 rocks in play heading into Dunstone's final shot. Two inches deeper on his draw and Dunstone would have set McEwen up with a triple for the win, but the Harnden brothers swept their yellow rock to the perfect spot, leaving "Magic Mike" with no miracle shot for the comeback. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around," said Dunstone after the game, speaking on the crazy tenth end. I mean it's just the the way it is. You just you had to start making freezes. Mikey and them made everything under the sun...You know we came up light on a few draws, gave them chances but, you know, made it when it mattered most." Now Dunstone faces #3 World-Ranked Jacobs, backed by Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert, in a best-of-three final. "Yeah it's gonna be tough. I mean, they're playing great," said Dunstone on the upcoming games against Jacobs. "I don't want to spill tactical secrets or anything we might have up our sleeves for that. Obviously we have to curl at a very high level...We're gonna get maybe one maybe one maybe two opportunities a game. Have to take advantage of them when they come." The first game begins at 7:30 p.m. AST on Friday with the second and third (if necessary) at 7 p.m. AST on Saturday and Sunday. 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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