A pair of steals lifted Brad Jacobs and his team representing northern Ontario to a 3-0 record through two days of action at the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier in Regina, Sask.
Facing Eddie McKenzie of P.E.I., the Jacobs rink, which includes third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden along with alternate Tanner Horgan, picked up a 9-5 win in eight ends to remain unbeaten.
Jacobs broke a 3-3 tie with a steal of four in the fifth end after McKenzie burned his final shot of the end. Jacobs would proceed to steal two more in the following end as well in the victory.
“We got a break, but you need breaks to win this thing,” Jacobs told Curling Canada during media availability following the win. “We’ll take it and move on to the next one.”
McKenzie held a 3-1 lead through three ends before Jacobs evened things up with a pair in the fourth end.
In the morning draw, the Jacobs rink picked up a 6-3 win over David St. Louis of the Iqaluit Curling Club in Nunavut.
Jacobs jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a pair in the opening end before adding a steal of one in the second end. Jacobs also had a deuce in the fifth end.
Jacobs is one of two unbeaten teams in Pool B along with Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers.
Next up for Team Jacobs in the nine-day event is a game against James Grattan of New Brunswick in the afternoon draw on Monday.
The 2018 event is the first under the new format for the Brier, announced last summer.
The event features 16 teams, one each from all of the provinces and territories, the defending champions as Team Canada and a wild card team.
The teams are split into two eight-team pools and play a round robin format within their pool. The top four teams then advance to a championship round that will then narrow the field to the four teams that would compete in the page playoff next weekend.