Team Jacobs ends season on high note

Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs and his team from the Community First Curling Club locally has another Grand Slam of Curling title.

The Jacobs rink, which includes third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden beat Kevin Koe of Calgary, Alta. 6-2 in seven ends on Sunday in the final of the Champions Cup, the final event of the Grand Slam of Curling season.

The win marks the Jacobs rink’s second Grand Slam of Curling title of the season, after winning the Boost National, held locally at the Essar Centre. It was the fourth appearance in a Grand Slam of Curling final this season for Jacobs.

“It feels awesome,” Jacobs told Sportsnet. “It feels great to win the last game of the season and go into the summer with a win. There’s only one team that can say that they’ve done that.

“I’m really proud of the guys and the way that they played all week,” Jacobs also said. “We hung in there through the ups and downs all week. To come out and play the way we did in the final was a great team effort.”

After the teams traded deuces in the second and third ends, Jacobs would take a 4-2 lead with two more in the fourth end before a steal of one in the fifth. Some key shots late in the end by Jacobs would force Koe to attempt a tough runback that he would miss.

“I knew before I threw that shot that if I threw a good one, if we called it right and swept it right, that we would be in good shape,” Jacobs said. “We got a break. We stole the one and from there we were comfortable.”

Jacobs would seal the win with another steal of one in the seventh end.

The win clinches a spot in the season-ending tournament for next season for the Jacobs team.

Jacobs posted a 3-1 record through round robin action before beating Mike McEwen of Winnipeg, Man. 9-8 in the quarter-final and then John Epping of Toronto, Ont. 9-5 in semifinal action on Saturday.

In the women’s final, Rachel Homan of Ottawa, Ont. beat Anna Hasselborg of Sundbyberg, Sweden, 5-4 on Sunday afternoon. Trailing 4-3, Homan scored a pair in the eighth end to pick up the win.