Jacobs’ final throw clinches Canadian Curling sweep in Game 2 thriller
By a margin of just two points across two games, Team Jacobs has won the Canadian Curling Trials and clinched a spot in the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games.
After a 9-8 victory on Friday night, the team of skip Brad Jacobs, third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, and lead Ben Hebert, took out team Team Dunstone (skip Matt Dunstone, third Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden) with a 5-4 victory.
Dunstone, facing a two-point deficit in the seventh end, scored one in each of the eight and ninth end to set up a decisive 10th end tied at four.
On Jacobs’ final stone, he struck the closest to the pin to secure a thrilling victory in front of fans in Halifax.
For the skip, Jacobs hasn’t been to the Olympic Games since winning gold in Sochi 2014, a feat he’ll surely be looking to recreate in 2026.
Jacobs previous bid for the Olympics ended in heartbreak at the Trials in 2021 by a single point to Brad Gushue.
Marc Kennedy will make his fourth Olympic appearance, and third for Ben Hebert. Brett Gallant had already booked his ticket to Milano Cortina 2026, as he is competing alongside his wife Jocelyn Peterman in mixed doubles.
Team Dunstone came into the series as the World No. 2, but dropped five of their final six matches of the season to come up just short.
Jacobs takes tight contest in Game 1
The first game of the men’s final at the Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax was an interesting one, to say the least.
In the end, it was Team Jacobs—with skip Brad Jacobs, third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, and lead Ben Hebert—who struck first in the best-of-three final, coming away with the 9-8 win over Team Dunstone (skip Matt Dunstone, third Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden). They’re now one win away from qualifying for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Jacobs began the game with the hammer, but a perfect hit and roll by Dunstone forced Jacobs to draw for a single in the opening end. Jacobs went up 3-0 after two ends when Dunstone’s attempted draw to the button was heavy, giving away the steal of two.
Dunstone didn’t let that disappointment get to him, responding in the third end to score two and cut the lead to one. Jacobs came right back with a soft tap to score two of his own to take a 5-2 lead into the fifth.
In the last end before the break, Jacobs had a huge miss on a runback attempt, allowing Dunstone the opportunity to draw for four, which he did to take the 6-5 lead.
The mistakes continued in the sixth, first by Dunstone and then by Jacobs, who saw their rock sail right through the house. Jacobs was left with a chance to score two, which he did to go back in front 7-6.
After blanking the seventh end, Dunstone retained the hammer into the eighth. Facing four Jacobs’ stones, Lott cleared three of them from the house. That helped set up a double takeout for Dunstone, leading to another blanked end.
In the ninth, Jacobs was looking for a double takeout with his last rock, but after making one hit, his shooter rolled just wide of the second target, leaving Dunstone with an open draw for two and a one point lead heading into the 10th end, in which Jacobs would have the hammer.
With the house looking a little busy, Kennedy broke it up with some big weight, which left Jacobs lying two with just the skip stones to come. Dunstone wrecked on a guard with his first shot of the end. Jacobs then attempted to get a third stone in position to count, but came up a little short on his draw. With his last throw, Dunstone missed his takeout attempt and the rock rolled right through the house, giving Jacobs two points for win without having to take his last shot.
The second game of the men’s final will take place at 6:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.
