Jacobs dumps Koe, Jones downs McCarville in semifinal play at curling trials
Vice-skip Marc Kennedy says the members of Team Jacobs are simply trying to follow their skip's lead at Canada's Olympic curling trials.
The plan is working nicely as another near-perfect performance from Brad Jacobs has the rink one win away from a berth in the Winter Games.
Jacobs used a pair of in-off double-takeouts for big scores in an 8-3 rout of Kevin Koe in the men's semifinal on Saturday afternoon. Jacobs, who will play Brad Gushue in the final, scored four in the third end and added another four-ender in the fifth.
"Brad has been fantastic and I think when you feel like your skip is going to make everything, it allows everybody to be a little more relaxed," said Kennedy. "That has kind of been the story of the week."
Later in the evening, Jennifer Jones defeated Krista McCarville 8-3 to advance to the women's final against Tracy Fleury.
"These are the moments that you play for," said Jones, who like Jacobs, won Olympic gold in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
Koe, who represented Canada at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games but missed the podium, conceded after only six ends.
"It came to a quick thud out there," Koe said. "It sucks."
Jacobs has rolled through the competition at SaskTel Centre with the lone hiccup a 7-6 extra-end loss to Gushue earlier in the week. He was in full control against Koe after the teams opened with a pair of blanks.
"This is just the best team performance I can remember that we've put together to this point," Jacobs said. "I think we all feel very confident heading into tomorrow's final."
The women's final was set for Sunday morning and the men were scheduled to play in the evening. The winning teams will wear the Maple Leaf at the Feb. 4-20 Beijing Games.
Gushue had the same 7-1 round-robin record as Jacobs but earned the top seed thanks to his head-to-head victory.
Both teams have plenty of Olympic experience. Kennedy won Olympic gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games with Kevin Martin and returned to the Games in 2018 with Koe.
Jacobs and his front end of E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden won in 2014 while Gushue and third Mark Nichols were victorious at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy.
Koe managed just a single in the fourth and tacked on a deuce in the sixth with the game essentially over.
"That's the best I've seen the Brad Jacobs team in a couple years," said Koe second John Morris. "They've got that look in their eye that they're really hard to beat."
In the afternoon tiebreaker, McCarville scored a single in an extra end for a 4-3 victory over Kerri Einarson.
Einarson, who beat Casey Scheidegger 8-6 in a morning tiebreaker, had a chance to beat McCarville in the 10th end but was heavy with her draw for two.
"I thought it was very close when I let go of it," Einarson said. "The way it was curling, I thought it was good but it wasn't."
Jones earned the first semifinal berth as the No. 2 seed. Fleury went unbeaten in round-robin play to earn the direct berth to the final.
In the semifinal, Jones scored a deuce in the eighth end and forced McCarville to try an angle-raise double in the ninth to score her deuce. McCarville couldn't clear the stones and gave up a steal of two.
"Fortunately for us we got a couple of misses that kind of turned the momentum of the game our way," Jones said.
Einarson, McCarville and Scheidegger were tied for third place in the round-robin standings at 4-4.
The men's semifinal was moved to the afternoon from the evening due to the women's tiebreaker schedule.
The change allowed both semifinals to be televised and kept the feature games on the same sheet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
As storms moves across Texas, 1 child dies after being swept away in floodwaters
A child in Texas died Sunday after being swept away in floodwaters as storms swept across the state.
Nylander defends Leafs' core after playoff exit, Toronto again picks up the pieces
The Maple Leafs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss.