Jacobs sweeps day two at Canada Cup

For Brad Jacobs and his team from the Community First Curling Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, day two at the 2016 Home Hardware Canada Cup in Brandon, Man. was an improvement on opening day.

The Jacobs rink, opened the tournament with a split on day one of the five-day event on Wednesday. On Thursday Team Jacobs, which includes third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden improved to 3-1 thanks to a pair of victories.

Team Jacobs opened the day with a 5-1 win in eight ends over Kevin Koe of Calgary, Alta. in the morning draw. Jacobs took a 2-0 lead thanks to a single in the fourth end before stealing one more n the fifth. After Koe got on the board with one in the sixth end Jacobs scored a pair in the seventh and sealed the win with a steal of one in the eighth.

In Thursday’s evening draw Team Jacobs broke a 2-2 tie with three in the seventh end en route to a 6-4 win over Steve Laycock of Saskatoon, Sask. Laycock would make things close with a pair in the ninth end before Jacobs scored one with the hammer in 10 to finish off the victory.

With the sweep on day two, Jacobs sits in a three-way tie with Brad Gushue and Reid Carruthers for top spot in the standings.

The Jacobs rink returns to action on Friday with a pair of games on the final day of round robin action. The Jacobs rink will face Reid Carruthers (Winnipeg, Man.) in the afternoon draw before facing John Epping (Toronto, Ont.) in the evening draw.

The Canada Cup features seven men’s and seven women’s teams and on the line in the tournament is an automatic berth in the 2017 Roar of the Rinks in Ottawa, which determines Canada’s representative in the Winter Olympics. The Canada Cup winners also earn berths in the 2017 World Financial Group Continental Cup.