Jacobs earns playoff berth at National

Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs is continuing to roll.

Jacobs is off to a 3-0 start at the latest Grand Slam of Curling event, the National, this week in Conception Bay South, Nfld.

The Jacobs rink, which includes third E.J. Harnden, second Matt Wozniak, and lead Ryan Harnden, picked up an 8-1 win on Thursday night over Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg at the six-day event.

The win clinches a playoff spot for the Jacobs rink, who is coming off tournament wins at the Canada Cup last weekend and the Tour Challenge in November.

After taking a 1-0 lead with the hammer in the opening end, Jacobs would steal one in the second and proceed to steal three more in the third end to take a commanding lead early on.

The Carruthers rink, who had Mike McEwen throwing skip stones in the game, would get on the board with a single in the fifth, only to see Jacobs seal the win with three more in the sixth end.

Wozniak joined the Jacobs rink for the event as he fills in for Ryan Fry, who stepped away from the team for personal reasons. Wozniak curled last season with McEwen.

With a playoff spot already in tow, the Jacobs rink will wrap up round robin action on Friday against Niklas Edin of Sweden.

The National features 15 men’s and 15 women’s teams that are split into three pools of five teams on each side.

The top eight teams make the playoff round with the men’s and women’s finals set for Sunday.