Their run at the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier came down to the second-last day.
Team Northern Ontario, represented by Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs and his team from the Community First Curling Centre, had their Brier come to an end on Saturday following split on the final day of Championship Pool action at the 10-day event.
With a 7-5 record, the Jacobs rink, which includes third Marc Kennedy, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden, and alternate Lee Toner, didn’t advance to the Brier playoffs, which are set for Sunday at the Markin MacPhail Arena in Calgary.
Team Jacobs opened the day with a 5-4 loss to Team Saskatchewan, skipped by Matt Dunstone.
Dunstone scored a single in the 10th end to pick up the win.
A tight contest, Jacobs opened the scoring with a single in the second end after blanking the opening end.
After blanking the third end, Dunstone got on the board with a single in the fourth and took a 2-1 lead with a steal of one in the fifth.
Jacobs picked up a single in the sixth end to tie the game at two.
The teams traded deuces in the seventh and eighth ends and Dunstone blanked the ninth end to set the stage for the win in 10.
In the evening draw, the Jacobs rink opened up a 4-0 lead through four ends in a 9-3 win over Team Ontario, skipped by John Epping.
After blanking the opening end, Jacobs got on the board with a single in the second end.
The Northern Ontario rink then proceeded to steal one in the third and two more in the fourth end to extend the lead.
After Epping got on the board and cut the lead to one with three in the fifth end, Jacobs got the three right back in the sixth end before sealing the win with a steal of two in the seventh.
“We battled hard,” Kennedy said in media availability provided by Curling Canada. “These events are tough. It’s a shot here and a shot there. We lost a couple games to teams that played well and we didn’t have our A game and that’s the difference right now.”
“That was an up and down week with our play on the ice, emotionally, everything,” Jacobs said. “We fought really hard. The guys never gave up. They never quit and that’s something to be proud of. We learned a ton this week. We missed being out here and competing.”
In other Championship Pool action on Saturday, results from the morning draw included Team Canada, skipped by Brad Gushue, beating Team Wild Card3, skipped by Wayne Middaugh in place of Glenn Howard, 6-3.
Team Alberta, skipped by Brendan Bottcher, beat Team Ontario 8-3, and Team Wild Card2, skipped by Kevin Koe, beat Team Manitoba, skipped by Jason Gunnlaugson 12-4.
In Saturday’s evening draw, Team Saskatchewan beat Team Manitoba 9-6 in eight ends, Team Alberta beat Team Canada 8-2 in eight ends, and Team Wild Card2 beat Team Wild Card3 7-6.
The final standings for the Championship Pool teams were:
- Team Wild Card2 (Kevin Koe): 10-2
- Team Saskatchewan (Matt Dunstone): 9-3
- Team Alberta (Brendan Bottcher): 9-3
- Team Canada (Brad Gushue): 8-4
- Team Wild Card3 (Glenn Howard): 8-4
- Team Northern Ontario (Brad Jacobs): 7-5
- Team Ontario (John Epping): 7-5
- Team Manitoba (Jason Gunnlaugson): 6-6
By way of finishing in top spot, the Koe rink earns a spot in Sunday’s final while Saskatchewan and Alberta will meet in semi-final action on Sunday afternoon to determine who Koe will face.