Jacobs set for playoff action at Brier

Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs is playoff bound at the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier in Brandon, Man.

After a win and a loss on Friday, team Northern Ontario, which includes Jacobs at skip, third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden, and fifth Lee Toner, picked up a win on Friday afternoon to earn a playoff spot.

The team ultimately earned a split of two games on Friday but will head into the 1vs2 page playoff game on Saturday evening against Alberta’s Kevin Koe thanks to Friday’s results.

Jacobs opened the day with a 7-6 win in an extra end over Brad Gushue (Team Canada).

The win sealed a playoff berth for Jacobs and a spot in the 1vs2 game.

“We’re in the 1-2 game and that’s mission accomplished to this point,” Jacobs told Curling.ca following the win over Gushue.

“I’m really proud of the guys,” Jacobs also said. “When we gave them a really soft deuce (in the fourth end), my one rock was a cutter and that was a tough thing to pick out at that point. We used it well from that point on and the guys hanging in there was really impressive.”

In the evening draw on Friday, Jacobs dropped a 7-5 decision to Koe to finish the Championship Pool with a 9-2 record.

Koe took a 3-1 lead thanks to three in the fourth end but Jacobs would tie the game with two in the sixth.

After the teams traded deuces in the eighth and ninth ends, Koe would score two in the final end to pick up the win and wrap up an 11-0 record heading into Saturday’s game against Jacobs.

The 3vs4 Page Playoff game will see Gushue face Brendan Bottcher (Wild Card) in Saturday’s afternoon draw.

The winner of that game will move on to semifinal action on Sunday afternoon against the losing team of Saturday’s matchup between Jacobs and Koe.

The winner between Jacobs and Koe will move right into Sunday’s final.