Team Jacobs wins first in best-of-three final at 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials

Team Brad Jacobs battled through a back-and-forth game and is now one step closer to its goal of winning the 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials, presented by Connect Hearing. The Calgary team picked up a Game 1 victory on Friday night and is now one win away from victory in the best-of-three men’s final.

Jacobs, vice-skip Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, lead Ben Hebert, alternate Mike Caione and coach Paul Webster remain the class of the field, finishing first in the men’s round robin and prevailing 9-8 over Team Matt Dunstone of Winnipeg.

But Team Jacobs’ win was far from guaranteed. The team built an early lead but allowed Team Dunstone to score four points in the fifth end to turn a 5-2 lead into a 6-5 deficit at the interval. The two teams traded points until the 10th end, when a missed final shot by Dunstone gave Team Jacobs the two points needed for the win.

Jacobs, an Olympic gold-medallist and two-time Montana’s Brier champion, is playing with confidence after winning last season’s national title. He credits this recent success with allowing him to enjoy the game and play freely at the Scotiabank Centre.

“Really, what I want to do is just continue to put on performances that my teammates are proud of, that my family’s proud of, and that my 15-year-old self would be proud of,” Jacobs said.

The Glencoe Club team can now complete the series sweep by winning Game 2, scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. (all times Atlantic). Game 3, if necessary, is Sunday at 7 p.m.

Team Jacobs started strong, scoring one point in the first end and stealing two more in the second after Team Dunstone’s draw went long. While Jacobs appeared in control, Team Dunstone regained momentum in the fifth with a four-point end, set up by Jacobs missing two runbacks.

In the sixth end, Team Jacobs scored two by hitting a stone in the 12-foot circle. The seventh end was quick, with both teams saving time, resulting in a blank and giving Dunstone the last rock for the eighth. Team Dunstone — rounded out by third/vice-skip Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden and coach Caleb Flaxey — scored two in the ninth with a draw. In the final end, the missed last shot, a hit-and-roll attempt that overcurled and missed the target stone, by Dunstone allowed Jacobs to win without needing to throw his last rock.

“I didn’t hate (the throw),” said Dunstone. “I know it was a little more weight than I’d thrown on my first one. You know, just on that side of the sheet, we hadn’t really played that the entire game and I didn’t throw it appropriately for the conditions that it was going to be in. So it was user error for sure on the last one, it’s just a trickier side. You could have been heavier, you could have been wide and do a lot with it and I just didn’t throw it appropriately for that.”

Challenging ice, created by frosty, humid conditions, created unpredictable paths, testing both teams throughout the match.

“It wasn’t either team’s best game, but a lot on the line and the ice makers, honestly, I love them both (chief Greg Ewasko and deputy Mark Shurek) and they’ve made such amazing ice for a long, long time,” Team Jacobs lead Hebert said. “I’m not going to say it’s bad ice. It’s just . . . it’s a little bit more difficult than what we’re used to when we (usually) shoot 95 (per cent) across the board.”

“Greg’s the best in the world and he’s been dealt a really tough hand this week (by rainy weather and warm temperatures). I want that to be known,” Dunstone said. “There’s nobody else that I’d rather have here than him. He’s the best in the business; he’s been dealt a really tough hand.”

Up next, Team Rachel Homan of Ottawa has a chance to win the women’s event on Saturday at 1 p.m. Game three, if necessary, is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials are available by CLICKING HERE.

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For ticket information for the 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials, go to www.curling.ca/2025trials/tickets.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/fr/2025trials/nouvelles.