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Stealing the win!
Team Manitoba-Carruthers prevails in all-Winnipeg Montana’s Brier clash
When Reid Carruthers decided to give up his skipping duties to 2014 Olympic champion Brad Jacobs in December, it turned around the team’s fortunes.
Riding a 21-10 record since that switch, Carruthers’ Team Manitoba-Carruthers opened its 2024 Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI, Saturday afternoon by twice stealing two points for a hard-fought but earned 7-5 victory over Team Manitoba-Dunstone, skipped by Matt Dunstone in an all-Winnipeg matchup.
“We’ve all been working very hard to get our deliveries and our fundamentals dialled in as close as we can to each other,” said Jacobs, winner of the 2013 Brier and 2014 Olympic gold medal. “But more than anything the dynamic continues to get stronger. And we’re having fun. That’s one of the biggest keys to this team, we’re enjoying each other’s company on and off the ice.”
They enjoyed their opening-game victory that came at the expense of two disastrous shots by Dunstone, one in the second and another in the eighth, both resulting in steals of two for Team Manitoba-Carruthers.
Backed by third B.J. Neufeld, second Colton Lott and lead Ryan Harnden, alternate Rob Gordon and coach Adam Kingsbury, Dunstone could only hang his head after his eighth-end angle raise attempt resulted in kicking out his own two stones and leaving Carruthers the pivotal deuce for a 6-3 edge.
“Very frustrating,” said Dunstone, who lost the 2023 Montana’s Brier final to Team Brad Gushue. “I thought we played well, put rocks in good spots, had opportunities, Two of my last ones turned into complete disasters and that was the difference.
“I thought we outplayed them; we were a sharper team. Brad did what Brad does, he made big shots when it mattered and won the opportunity battle today.”
Dunstone had given up only three stolen points in all of last year’s Montana’s Brier.
With Derek Samagalski throwing second stones, Connor Njegovan at lead, and Rob Meakin serving as coach, Team Carruthers still needed a last-rock draw in the 10th end by Jacobs to secure the victory.
“It was a great first game,” added Jacobs, who joined the Carruthers team midway through last season. “We got some breaks. Matt had two big misses, one early and one later in the game that I’m sure he wants back. But we were able to keep plugging away and make all the shots we had to make in order to close out that game.
“Playing a team that’s a favourite to potentially win and knowing the skill level of the Dunstone team and playing them early is a good thing. It makes us hone in and focus right from game No. 1, rock No. 1.”
It is one of the quirks of the Montana’s Brier that Draw 1 featured two Alberta teams playing each other and today’s Draw 2 had the two Manitoba teams meeting in their opening games.
Team Carruthers won the Manitoba provincial championship and Team Dunstone qualified on Canadian Team Ranking System points.
In the other afternoon draw games Scott Howard and Team Ontario (Penetanguishene) scored three in the 10th end to score a 7-5 win over Catlin Schneider and Team British Columbia (Victoria); Team Northern Ontario (Thunder Bay), skipped by Trevor Bonot, beat James Grattan’s Team New Brunswick (Oromocto) 9-4 in eight ends; and top-seeded Brendan Bottcher and Team Alberta-Bottcher (Calgary) scored three in the third end and four in the eighth enroute to an 11-3 win over the Andrew Symonds-skipped Team Newfoundland and Labrador from St. John’s.
The 2024 Montana’s Brier continues with this evening’s draw at 6 p.m. CST.
Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2024 Montana’s Brier are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/.
TSN and RDS2 will provide complete coverage of the 2024 Montana’s Brier. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule.
Broadcast coverage for viewers outside of Canada is available on TSN’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/@TSN_Sports.
For ticket information for the 2024 Montana’s Brier, go to www.curling.ca/2024brier/tickets/.
This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2024brier/nouvelles/?lang=fr