Struggles to make shots difference for Jacobs (16 photos)

Shot-making is the key to success and for Team Jacobs, some missed shots were missed opportunities on Thursday night.

The team struggled at times and dropped a 7-5 decision to Brad Gushue (St. John’s, Nfld.) in the evening draw at the National, a six-day Grand Slam of Curling event being held at the Essar Centre locally.

“We’ve got to play better, plain and simple,” skip Brad Jacobs said. “We’ve got to make more routine shots. We’re not doing that. We gave up some soft deuces that we should never give up. We all took our turns in that game. We all missed shots.”

The loss drops the Jacobs team to 2-1 entering the final day of the round robin on Friday in what is the third event on the Grand Slam of Curling schedule this season.

“We were battling to make shots where the last couple of nights we were throwing really good,” said Team Jacobs second E.J. Harnden. “Tonight we were just a little bit off and it was tougher for us to make shots. It’s hard to do that against a really good team like Brad (Gushue).”

Harnden said taking solace in the fact that the team shot very well on the opening two days in wins over Brendan Bottcher and Tanner Horgan is what the Jacobs rink needs heading into action Friday.

“You take confidence in how we played the first two games and know that we can do that again,” Harnden said.

With the teams trading two-point ends, Gushue was pleased with the bounce-back of his team in the seventh end when Jacobs had scored a pair the previous end to tie the game at five.

The event is the first of the season for Gushue, who missed the opening eight events of the season due to a hip/groin injury.

“It’s been an adjustment for sure,” Gushue said of his return. “It’s probably been more of an adjustment for the guys than it is for me because they played those eight events without me and started to get comfortable and were playing well.”

Mark Nichols served as skip of the team in Gushue’s absence.

Gushue said he’s pleased with how he’s felt in his return to action this week.

“I’ve been quite happy with how I’ve felt this week,” the veteran skip said. “It’s going to take some time for me to regain my strength and the biggest thing for the team is to be patient. If I can get back to 100 per cent I like our teams chances in any event.”

The Community First Curling Centre representatives, which also includes third Ryan Fry and lead Ryan Harnden, returns to action on Friday afternoon in a 3:30 p.m. start against Steve Laycock.

In other games involving northern Ontario rinks, Sudbury’s Tanner Horgan dropped an 8-0 decision in five ends to Brendan Bottcher (Edmonton, Alta.) in draw six. After Bottcher blanked the first three ends with the hammer, he proceeded to score three in the fourth before a steal of five in the fifth.

Also in the sixth draw, Thunder Bay’s Krista McCarville picked up an 8-3 win over Allison Flaxey (Caledon, Ont.) in six ends. With the teams tied at two through three ends, McCarville scored three in the fourth and stole three more in the fifth in the victory.

In the seventh draw, Sudbury’s Tracy Fleury dropped an 8-5 decision to Chelsea Carey (Calgary, Alta.) After blanking the opening end, Carey jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second. Carey also scored a single in the fourth and a pair each in the sixth and eighth ends. Fleury scored a pair each in the third and fifth ends before scoring a single in the seventh end.

Horgan ended the day with a 6-4 win against Steve Laycock (Saskatoon, Sask.) in draw nine. Horgan fell behind 4-2 after Laycock scored three in the seventh end but the young skip managed to score a pair to tie in the eighth before stealing two an extra end to win.

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OTHER SCORES

Draw 6

Men

Trailing 3-2, John Epping (Toronto, Ont.) scored a pair in the seventh end to take the lead before a steal of one in the final end sealed a 5-3 win over David Murdoch (Stirling, Scotland).

John Morris (Vernon, BC) stole one in the opening end and stole two more in the second to jump out to an early 3-0 lead in a 6-1 win over Peter De Cruz (Geneva, Switzerland) in six ends. De Cruz got one back in the third before Morris scored a single in four and single steals in the fifth and sixth ends.

Draw 7

Men

With the hammer in the final end, Niklas Edin (Karlstad, Sweden) scored a pair to pick up a 6-4 win over Mike McEwen (Winnipeg, Man.).

Women

Binia Feltscher (Films, Switzerland) beat EunJung Kim (Uiseong, Korea) 6-5. Feltscher jumped out to a 3-0 lead with steals of two in the first and one in the second end. Kim would battle back from the deficit to eventually tie the game with a pair in the seventh.

Draw 8

Men

A great shot by Jim Cotter, who throws skip stones for John Morris (Vernon, BC), led to a pair in the eighth end and a 7-6 win over David Murdoch (Stirling, Scotland). Morris opened a 3-0 lead in the first end but Murdoch would cut the lead to one with a pair in the third end. After Morris scored one in the fourth Murdoch would tie the game at four with a pair in the fifth end. Trailing by one, Murdoch would take the lead into the final end after scoring two in the seventh end.

Kevin Koe (Calgary, Alta.) scored three in the eighth end to beat John Epping (Toronto, Ont.) 7-5. Koe led 2-0 through two ends after a single in one and a steal in the second. Epping erased the lead with two in the third. After the teams traded singles, Epping took the lead with a pair in the seventh.

Charley Thomas (Edmonton, Alta.) picked up a 5-2 victory over John Shuster (Duluth, Min.). A pair in the fourth end and a steal of one in the fifth was the difference for Thomas.

Women

Trailing 1-0, Val Sweeting (Edmonton, Alta.) scored three in the third end en route to a 5-3 victory over Anna Hasselborg (Sundbyberg, Sweden).

Rachel Homan (Ottawa, Ont.) picked up a 10-2 win over Allison Flaxey (Caledon, Ont.) in six ends. Leading 4-2, Homan blew the game open with three in the fifth and a steal of three more in the sixth.

Draw 9

Men

Reid Carruthers (Winnipeg, Man.) scored a single in the eighth end to beat Niklas Edin (Karlstad, Sweden) 6-5.

Women

Jennifer Jones (Winnipeg, Man.) beat EunJung Kim (Uiseong, Korea) 5-3. The difference was steals of two in the third and a steal of one more in the fourth by Jones to take a 4-0 lead at the time.

Kerri Einarson (Winnipeg, Man.) stole a pair in the fifth end and that turned out to be the difference in a 5-3 win over Eve Muirhead (Perth, Scotland)

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STANDINGS

Men Pool A

1. Brad Gushue: 3-0
2. Brendan Bottcher: 2-1
3. Brad Jacobs: 2-1
4. Tanner Horgan: 1-3
5. Steve Laycock: 0-3

Men Pool B

1. Kevin Koe: 2-0
2. John Epping: 2-1
3. John Morris: 2-1
4. Peter De Cruz: 1-2
5. David Murdoch: 0-3

Men Pool C

1. Reid Carruthers: 3-0
2. Charley Thomas: 2-1
3. Niklas Edin: 1-2
4. Mike McEwen: 1-2
5. John Shuster: 0-2

Women Pool A

1. Rachel Homan: 3-0
2. Chelsea Carey: 1-1
3. Krista McCarville: 1-1
4. Allison Flaxey: 1-2
5. Tracy Fleury: 0-2

Women Pool B

1. Val Sweeting: 3-0
2. Bini Feltscher: 2-1
3. Jennifer Jones: 2-1
4. Anna Hasselborg: 1-2
5. EunJung Kim: 0-4

Women Pool C

1. Kerri Einarson: 2-1
2. Anna Sidorova: 2-1
3. Silvana Tirinzoni: 2-1
4. Eve Muirhead: 1-2
5. Kelsey Rocque: 0-2

Top eight teams overall make the playoffs.