SELKIRK, Man. — Edmonton’s Kevin Koe stole three points in the final end to squeak out an 8-5 win over Brad Jacobs, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., during Draw 9 action at the Masters Grand Slam of Curling.
It was a back-and-forth battle between the two rinks as they traded deuces twice through the game. Koe settled for a single in the seventh to tie it 5-5 but gave up the hammer coming home. Jacobs’ final shot missed the mark allowing Koe to score the victory and improve to a 2-1 record in the tournament.
“It’s nice to sneak out a steal and we were both so short on time it was hard to be really precise and talk about shots when you’re that close to time,” said Team Koe third Marc Kennedy. “I thought we hung in there good. We got a couple bad breaks and it was a good battle, a great game for TV and both teams played pretty well.”
Team Jacobs, the Olympic champions, fell to 0-2 at the Masters.
Elsewhere, Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen (3-0) stayed undefeated with a 6-3 win in seven ends over Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz.
McEwen broke a 3-3 tie with a point in the fifth and earned back-to-back single steals in the sixth and seventh ends.
The team went 2-for-2 on the day in a pair of tough games against Swiss teams. McEwen edged Sven Michel 4-3 with an impressive takeout to score two during Draw 7.
“I don’t know what it is about Swiss teams but they seem to play really well against us,” McEwen said with a laugh. “They give us all sorts of fits.”
Team McEwen entered the Masters having won four titles in four tournaments and hold an overall win-loss record on the season of 31-1.
Glenn Howard (2-1) pulled away with a deuce in the third followed by consecutive single steals in the fourth and fifth ends during a 7-3 win in seven ends over Jeff Stoughton.
Howard, from Penetanguishene, Ont., bounced back from a 5-2 defeat to Brad Gushue earlier Thursday. Stoughton, of Winnipeg, dropped to a 1-2 record.
Sweden’s Niklas Edin (2-1) scored one in the final end to edge Jim Cotter with a 6-5 victory. Cotter’s Kelowna/Vernon, B.C., rink fell to a 0-3 record.
In the women’s division, Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson (2-1) scored deuces in the first, third and seventh ends during a 7-3 win over Scotland’s Eve Muirhead (0-3).