Manitoba-Dunstone skip Matt Dunstone, back left, celebrates behind third Colton Lott and second E.J. Harnden after defeating Brad Gushue's Canada rink during the playoffs at the Brier, in Kelowna, B.C., on Saturday, March 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

KELOWNA, B.C. - When veteran skip Brad Jacobs joined his new teammates last spring, one of their main goals was to make it to the last day of the Montana's Brier.

Mission accomplished for the Alberta foursome. Now it's just a matter of getting to the top step of the podium.

Jacobs secured a semifinal berth with a 6-5 win over Manitoba's Reid Carruthers in the Page playoff 3-4 game on Saturday at Prospera Place. He will next play defending champion Brad Gushue, who dropped a 7-4 decision to Manitoba's Matt Dunstone in the Page playoff 1-2 game later in the day.

"We're in a pretty good spot," Jacobs said. "We're giving ourselves every opportunity that we can give ourselves to try to win this thing. I'm just really confident in the guys."

Dunstone earned a direct berth to Sunday's championship game with the victory.

A late tiebreaking pair gave him the lead as Gushue took hammer coming home. The St. John's, N.L.-based skip had rocks in play in the 10th end but couldn't make a challenging double-takeout for the victory.

"I thought we had control of that game right from the get-go," Dunstone said. "We got key forces when we needed to and then obviously the big deuce in nine. I'm really proud of the group."

Dunstone's side, the top-ranked team in Canada, finished at 89 per cent while Gushue's rink was at 83 per cent.

"I felt like our strategy was a little ad hoc," Gushue said. "It was just figuring out from rock to rock what we were going to do. We didn't really build many ends."

In the 3-4 game, Jacobs gave up a steal of two in the ninth and scored a single in the 10th for the win.

"We've worked really hard to get here," said Alberta vice Marc Kennedy. "I think we're comfortable with our preparation. We'll just go out there and play loose and let 'er fly."

Carruthers was forced to score a single in the eighth end but tied the game in the ninth after a Jacobs peel attempt jammed in the house.

"That was probably his first peel miss in six months," said Kennedy. "But hey, it happens. Reid made a great shot on his last one. It's not a bad thing for us to have to play a game tied up coming home with (hammer) with a shot to win. All good."

Jacobs posted an 8-0 round-robin record. His only loss at the competition was a 7-4 decision to Gushue in Friday's early qualifier, which was followed by a 10-6 win over Nova Scotia's Owen Purcell in the evening qualifier.

Carruthers, who was 6-2 in round-robin play, qualified with a 6-4 win over Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen a day earlier. He said a few "half-shots" impacted his team's performance against Jacobs.

"It's obviously disappointing losing," Carruthers said. "But we lost to a great team and there's a lot to be proud of. We had a hell of a week."

Gushue is looking to win the national men's curling championship for a record fourth straight time and seventh overall.

Jacobs, whose lone Brier title came in 2013, joined Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert after the team parted ways with Brendan Bottcher.

Jacobs entered play ranked second in Canada, just ahead of McEwen and Gushue.

"We're trying to build a team that can beat the best teams in the country and the world," Kennedy said. "We've had a really good season."

Bottcher has thrown fourth stones for most of his career but moved to second when he joined Gushue's side last fall. He replaced E.J. Harnden, who's now trying to help Dunstone win his first Brier crown.

"I think quite honestly everything worked out the way that it should have," Harnden said. "There's no hard feelings or animosity."

Also this weekend, longtime Winnipeg Sun curling writer Ted Wyman was named the posthumous winner of the Paul McLean Award. Wyman died last November at age 58.

The award, presented by TSN, honours a media member who has made a lasting contribution to the sport. Wyman's son, Chris, accepted the award during the fifth-end break.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025