The 2018 Tim Hortons Brier came to a disappointing end for Brad Jacobs and his team from the Community First Curling Centre in Regina, Sask.
Representing northern Ontario at the nine-day event, the Jacobs rink dropped a 6-5 decision in an extra end to Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher on Saturday.
Trailing 5-3, Bottcher scored a pair to force the extra end before proceeding to steal in the extra for the win.
“We had total control of the game but unfortunately couldn’t close it out,” Jacobs said in a Curling Canada story. “We’re really disappointed. This is going to sting for a while.”
In the extra end, Bottcher made a tough draw on his final shot that would force Jacobs to attempt a tap for the win. Jacobs’ shot wouldn’t curl enough and Bottcher would steal the win.
“That was the best path on the sheet,” Jacobs said. “All we had to do was touch that yellow (rock) a couple of inches and we would have been fine. I thought it would swoop over. At that point in the game we know it’s straightening out. I love the stone that I left myself to throw that shot. I figured it would finish and it didn’t quite finish like we thought it would. It was close.”
Jacobs would also say the draw by Bottcher was a “ridiculously tough shot,” one that the Alberta skip made “look easy.”
Saturday’s game marked Bottcher’s second consecutive victory over Jacobs after beating the northern Ontario rink Friday night to get into the page playoff.
The Jacobs rink, which includes third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden and alternate Tanner Horgan, entered playoff action with an 8-3 record.
Ryan Harnden missed both games on Friday due to an illness that landed him in the hospital and led to him missing a game earlier in the tournament as well though he returned to action for Saturday’s matchup with Bottcher.
Brad Gushue (Team Canada) was set to face Ontario’s John Epping in the 1-2 page playoff game on Saturday evening. The winner would advance directly to Sunday’s final with Bottcher facing the loser of the game in semifinal action on Sunday afternoon.