THUNDER BAY – Brad Jacobs finally got the complete game he was looking for from his Sault Ste. Marie foursome.
That’s not good news for the rest of the field at the 2017 Travelers Provincial Men’s Championship.
The six-time Northern Ontario champion Jacobs rink on Friday afternoon scored four in the second end, took early control of their match against fellow undefeated skip Dylan Johnston and rolled to an 8-2 victory to take sole possession of top spot with a perfect 5-0 record.
“I think everybody was a bit more comfortable out here today,” the 31-year-old skip said.
Given that the Johnston rink was the lone team to beat the Jacobs squad at last year’s provincials, there was no chance they were going to take the Thunder Bay team for granted – especially since they both entered play on Friday with 4-0 records.
“I think both teams knew that that game probably was for first place. I think both teams as a result probably came out here a little more fired up than usual,” Jacobs said.
“All I know is we were and it was kind of nice to come into a game feeling a little nervous, feeling the nerves a little bit and come out and perform.”
The reigning Olympic champion, whose team includes brothers Ryan and E.J. Harnden in the front end and Ryan Fry at third, said it’s taken his team a couple of days to feel comfortable. But that’s nothing out of the ordinary.
“I feel like usually around this point is usually when we do start to turn it around. That was our fifth game there and it usually takes anywhere from three to five games to get sharp,” Jacobs said.
“The ice has been a little tough. We saw a little bit more curl out there today and I think that helps our team, to be honest.”
Fry said the win was huge, but more importantly, the team played well.
“Our goal is obviously to get to Sunday and give ourselves a shot at winning provincials, so every win helps us get to that point.”
It’s certainly not a cakewalk, like many fans might think.
“We’re in that position every time we go out on the ice. We’re the reigning Olympic champions and we’ve (had) that target on our back since we stepped on the ice in 2015. We know all these teams can play well and they’re all going to play their best game against us every single time,” Fry said.
“If we don’t play our best we can get beat and that showed last year when we played Johnston in the round robin.”
Johnston, who nevertheless clinched at least a spot in a tiebreak, just couldn’t get back on track after the second end, scoring once in the third, but giving up two in the sixth to trail 6-1. They got one back in the seventh, but Jacobs ended it in the eighth with a pair, a draw to the four-foot sealing the match.
In other action, Thunder Bay’s Al Hackner improved to 3-2, scoring four in the ninth to earn an 8-4 win over Sudbury’s Tanner Horgan.
Hackner is alone in third, ahead of a quartet of teams at 2-3, including Horgan, Jordan Chandler, Christ Glibota, and Thunder Bay’s Bryan Burgess, who knocked off winless Ryan Sayer 8-5 on Friday. Hackner and Johnston face off in the evening draw at Fort William Curling Club, while Burgess takes on Glibota.
