Jacobs finishes third at Brier

Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs and his team from the Community First Curling Centre will return home with a bronze medal from the 2016 Tim Horton’s Brier in Ottawa.

The Jacobs rink, which features third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden, beat Manitoba’s Mike McEwen 7-6 in 11 ends to take third in the annual event.

Jacobs completed a draw to the button on his final shot with the hammer in the 11th end to win.

“It was nice to have that shot to win the game,” Jacobs told media following the victory. “This raises our spirits a little bit, coming out here and playing well. Winning a bronze medal is something that I think we’ll be proud of.”

For McEwen, the game was one that the Manitoba rink was always “one shot away.”

“We got a really good break to start but were always kind of one shot away from putting together a really good end through the middle and then we were in a situation where we had to claw back so it was out of our hands,” McEwen said. “Couldn’t make eight shots in an end. Tough to win that way.”

It was a rebound game for the Jacobs rink after dropping a pair of playoff round games following an 11-0 round robin.

Jacobs dropped the 1vs2 page playoff in extra ends against Brad Gushue from Newfoundland and Labrador. Then in the semi-final, Jacobs dropped a 6-5 decision to Alberta’s Kevin Koe after Koe scored a pair in the final end on a measurement.

“It feels good. We were really feeling the pain of those two losses,” Jacobs said.

“It’s nice to go out there and put a performance together that we can be proud of with our last game at the Brier,” Jacobs also said.

In the final, Koe beat Gushue 9-5.

Thanks to the Brier victory, Koe will represent Canada at the World Curling Championship which is set to open on Apr. 2 in Basel, Switzerland.

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TEAM JACOBS BRIER SCHEDULE

Round Robin

Mar. 5 – Draw 2 vs. Saskatchewan (Steve Laycock): Win 6-5 in 11 ends
Mar. 6 – Draw 3 vs. Quebec (Jean-Michel Menard): Win 5-4 in 11 ends; Draw 5 vs. British Columbia (Jim Cotter): Win 5-3
Mar. 7 – Draw 7 vs. Team Canada (Pat Simmons): Win 10-4
Mar. 8 – Draw 8 vs. Prince Edward Island (Adam Casey): Win 6-2; Draw 10 vs. Alberta (Kevin Koe): Win 8-3
Mar. 9 – Draw 12 vs. Ontario (Glenn Howard): Win 6-4; Draw 13 vs. Northwest Territories (Jamie Koe): Win 9-2
Mar. 10 – Draw 15 vs. Manitoba (Mike McEwen): Win 8-5; Draw 16 vs. New Brunswick (Mike Kennedy): Win 10-5
Mar. 11 – Draw 17 vs. Newfoundland and Labrador (Brad Gushue): Win 4-1
Playoff Round

Mar. 11 – 1v2 Page Playoff vs. Newfoundland and Labrador (Brad Gushue): Loss 7-6 in 11 ends
Mar. 12 – Semi-Final vs. Alberta (Kevin Koe): Loss 6-5
Mar. 13 – Bronze Medal Game vs. Manitoba (Mike McEwen): Win 7-6 in 11 ends
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STANDINGS

Round Robin

1. Northern Ontario (Brad Jacobs): 11-0
2. Newfoundland and Labrador (Brad Gushue): 9-2
3. Alberta (Kevin Koe): 8-3
4. Manitoba (Mike McEwen): 8-3
5. Team Canada (Pat Simmons): 6-5
6. Saskatchewan (Steve Laycock): 5-6
7. Quebec (Jean-Michel Menard): 4-7
8. Ontario (Glenn Howard): 4-7
9. Northwest Territories (Jamie Koe): 3-8
10. New Brunswick (Mike Kennedy): 3-8
11. British Columbia (Jim Cotter): 3-8
12. Prince Edward Island (Adam Casey): 2-9