Brad Jacobs and his team from the Community First Curling Centre is set to represent northern Ontario again.
Thanks to a 7-5 win over Tanner Horgan of Curl Sudbury on Sunday evening, the Jacobs rink, which included third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden is off to the Tim Hortons Brier, set for early March in Manitoba.
After Horgan scored one in the opening end with the hammer, Jacobs responded with two of his own in the second end.
Horgan would tie the game at two in the third end, only to see Jacobs score a pair in the fourth end to take a 4-2 lead.
The teams proceeded to trade deuces in the fifth and sixth ends, giving Jacobs a 6-4 lead.
Jacobs proceeded to steal one in the seventh to increase the lead.
Horgan would score one in the eight to pull back to within two, but Jacobs would blank the ninth end and the Sudbury-based rink couldn’t set up a steal in the final end, giving Jacobs the win and the northern title.
Since Fry joined the team prior to the 2012-13 season, the only year the team hasn’t represented the north at the Brier was in 2014 when the team was preparing to represent Canada at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
The Brier opens on March 2 at Westoba Place in Brandon, Man.
The field is taking shape across the country.
In addition to Jacobs, other provincial reps who have been determined include:
- Team British Columbia: Jim Cotter
- Team Canada: Brad Gushue
- Team New Brunswick: Jerry Odishaw
- Team Newfoundland and Labrador: Andrew Symonds
- Team Nova Scotia: Stuart Thompson
- Team Nunavut: Dave St. Louis
- Team Ontario: Scott McDonald
- Team Prince Edward Island: John Likely
- Team Quebec: Martin Crete
Jacobs went 6-1 through round robin action to get into the playoffs.
Jacobs earned a spot in the final thanks to a 7-6 semifinal win over Mike McCarville of the Fort William Curling Club in Thunder Bay.
Jacobs jumped out to a 2-0 lead early after scoring one in the first end with the hammer and then stealing another in the second end.
After McCarville blanked the third end and score one in the fourth to cut the Jacobs lead in half, the Sault rink scored three in the sixth end to take a commanding lead.
McCarville would score one in the seventh end before Jacobs would add to his lead and make it 7-2 through eight ends.
After scoring a pair in the ninth end to make it 7-4, McCarville stole a pair in the tenth end to make things close.
Horgan earned a spot directly in the final after going 7-0 during round robin play.