ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone has advanced to his third career Brier final, where the 30-year-old skipper will be looking for his first win.
And he got there by taking out Canada’s reigning national and Olympic champions.
Dunstone, Colton Lott and E.J. and Ryan Harnden earned a 7-3 victory in Sunday afternoon’s semifinal over Brad Jacobs and his veteran crew, who just 14 days earlier had Olympic gold medals draped around their necks in Cortina.
The game came down to the last shot, where Jacobs faced a tough draw to tie things up and force an extra end, but he came up light.
"I'm happy it's over," said Jacobs, who curled 91 per cent in the loss. "I mean, like what? We tried, there's nothing else we could do. We tried, we played hard all week, we never gave up at any point in time. And yeah, you know what, I think we can walk away from this Brier, hold our heads really high. Guess what we are still are?" he added, with a smile. "Olympic gold medallists — can you believe it? I can't wait to go home and see my family and friends and share the gold medal with everyone."
Dunstone will now face Alberta’s Kevin Koe, the four-time Brier champion who’s yet to be beaten here, in Sunday night’s final. It’ll be a rematch of Saturday’s 1-2 playoff game that saw the 51-year-old Koe beat Dunstone in an extra end.
"Good bounce-back after a tough loss night," Dunstone said. "Right where we want to be. Pretty excited for what's to come in a couple hours."
For Dunstone, the win over Jacobs was massive, and one he’s been looking for on the big stage for quite some time. It was Jacobs who beat Dunstone’s Team Manitoba in both the 2025 Brier and Olympic Trials back in November.
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Dunstone has won two silver medals and two bronze medals at the Brier, and Lott is also a two-time silver medallist. E.J. Harnden, meanwhile, is set to call it a career after this season and is looking to go out on top in his Brier finale with a fourth title, while his brother Ryan is looking for a second. Jacobs and the Harnden brothers are cousins, and they won Olympic gold together in 2014.
"Congrats to those guys. I'm happy for Ryan and E.J., they get another chance," Jacobs said. "And Dunny and Colton, they get another opportunity for their first Brier, so should be a great final. We're gonna have a bunch of beers and watch."
Koe and Team Alberta are well rested after beating Dunstone Saturday night, while Dunstone, Lott and the Harnden brothers have just a few hours to recover before Sunday night’s final at 7:30 pm local time (6 pm ET).
The winner goes on to represent Canada at the world championships from March 27 to April 4 in Utah.
