![]() Calgary's Brad Jacobs (Photo: Andrew Klaver/Curling Canada) defeats Winnipeg's Matt Dunstone 9-8 in game 1 of the 2025 Montana's Canadian Curling Trials best-of-three final in Halifax, N.S. on Nov. 28. By Meredith McCullum In a wild battle of big scores, Brad Jacobs - with third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert - won 9-8 over Dunstone's squad. "I said in the beginning of the week there's a lot of weird things that happen in big events, and especially at the Olympic Trials," said Jacobs after the game. "We were witness to that tonight...We made some mistakes, but we got a deuce back right away and settled back in and won the game." #2 World-Ranked Dunstone - with third Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden - forced #3 World-Ranked Jacobs to a single point in the first end. A heavy draw by Dunstone resulted in a steal of 2 for Jacobs in the second. The teams traded deuces in the third and fourth, giving Jacobs the 5-2 lead. In the fifth, Jacobs missed a runback on his first shot, giving Dunstone a draw for 4 which he made as the crowd of nearly 7000 roared and Dunstone took a 6-5 lead. Jacobs had a chance to score four right back in the sixth but threw his draw through the house, leaving a double for Dunstone to get of trouble. Jacobs would score two to lead 7-6. Dunstone blanked the eighth and scored two in the ninth, taking an 8-7 lead into the final end. Jacobs set up well in the tenth and Dunstone missed a hit to force Jacobs to a tough last shot, handing the Alberta squad two points and the win. "I feel for Matt and that team after that miss, I really do," said Jacobs on Dunstone's last shot. "I know we want to win but my cousins [E.J. and Ryan Harnden] are on that team. They're my family. I love them...It's a huge break for sure. Will we take it? Absolutely." Dunstone and Jacobs match up again Saturday at 7 p.m. AST. If Jacobs wins, he will qualify to represent Canada at the 2026 Olympics Games in Milano-Cortina, Italy. If Dunstone bounces back and wins, the teams will play in game 3 on Sunday at 7 p.m. AST. The game will be streamed on TSN (Canada) and TSN YouTube (internationally). Linescores and standings are available at Curlingzone.com. |


















