A playoff spot will be on the line when Brad Jacobs and his team from the Community First Curling Club takes to the ice on Saturday morning.
After opening the Northern Ontario Curling Association (NOCA) men’s provincial tournament in Little Current, Ont. with four consecutive wins, the Jacobs rink, which included third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden, and lead Ryan Harnden, dropped a pair of games on Friday, including a 6-5 loss to Dylan Johnston of the Fort William Curling Club in the evening draw.
Trailing by a pair, Jacobs would tie things at five thanks to a deuce in the eighth end. Johnston would proceed to blank the ninth end before scoring in the 10th end to pick up the victory and improve to 5-1 in the process.
Team Jacobs opened the day with a 7-3 loss to Sudbury’s Tanner Horgan six ends in the afternoon draw.
A battle and the final two unbeaten teams in the event, Horgan opened the game with a steal of two in the second end to take the early lead. After Jacobs replied with a deuce of his own in the third, Horgan would score five in the fourth to take a commanding lead en route to the victory.
Heading into the final round robin draw on Saturday morning, Jacobs sits in a tie for third with Sudbury’s Jordan Chandler with both teams holding a record of 4-2. At 5-1, Johnston sits second, while Horgan enters Saturday in top spot with a perfect 6-0 record. The top three teams advance to the playoff round.
The Jacobs rink will wrap up round robin action on Saturday morning against Dustin Montpellier (3-3) of the Copper Cliff Curling Club in the final round robin draw. Pending results from Saturday's final round robin draw, tie-breaker games could also come into play.
Semifinal action is set for Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. as the second- and third-place teams meet. The winner advances to Sunday’s final against the top team from the round robin.
The tournament champion will represent northern Ontario at the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier in Regina.