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Hot start for Jacobs rink (5 photos)

A fast start and some key shot-making helped Brad Jacobs and his rink from Soo Curlers open the Grand Slam of Curling’s National on a winning note on Wednesday night.

A fast start and some key shot-making helped Brad Jacobs and his rink from Soo Curlers open the Grand Slam of Curling’s National on a winning note on Wednesday night.

In the first draw of the five-day 18-team tournament, Team Jacobs defeated Mark Kean’s rink from Stoney Creek, Ont. 9-3 Wednesday evening at the Essar Centre.

The Jacobs team features lead Ryan Harnden, second E.J. Harnden and third Ryan Fry.

“We made a lot of shots and got one key miss from Kean’s team and broke the game open right from the get-go,” Jacobs said. “To win a game like we did, you have to make all of your shots and you have to get some misses from the other team and that’s exactly what we got today.”

Jacobs called the tournament opening victory a crucial start to the event.

“You’re trying to get at least to 4-1. 3-2 will probably get you the tiebreaker but the goal is you want to make the playoffs and at least get to 4-1,” Jacobs said. “Having said that, we still want to win every game for our hometown and for ourselves.”

“It was a really good first game for us because we were able to throw all of the shots,” Jacobs also said. “We were able to call all of the shots out there and we swept very well. We called the line very well. It’s a very key start for us.”

Jacobs also said the win on Wednesday night, continued a good stretch of curling for the team.

“We really got on a good roll at the Masters, winning four in a row,” said Jacobs. “We did everything right from that third game on even in the (Semi-final loss to Mike) McEwen. That really made us feel like we were back where we were, playing our best in the previous year.”

Kean credited the Jacobs rink to not getting into trouble when the Kean rink would pull closer.

“I missed my second shot in the first end and it put us behind the eight-ball for the rest of the game,” said Kean. “We would get something going and they would make a shot to bail themselves out.”

The National is the second of five events on the Grand Slam of Curling Schedule.

In other action at the National on Wednesday, Glenn Howard defeated Adam Casey 8-4; Kevin Koe beat Peter De Cruz 6-3, Jeff Stoughton beat John Shuster 7-3 and Mike McEwen beat Heath McCormick 7-4.

Team Jacobs is back on the ice for the third draw on Thursday, scheduled for 12:30 p.m. against Adam Casey.

Photo: Brad Jacobs and Ryan Fry discuss strategy during Wednesday's opening draw of the 2014 Grand Slam of Curling event in Sault Ste. Marie Shaylan Spurway/SooToday


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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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