Jacobs one win from Beijing

Vice-skip Marc Kennedy says the members of Team Jacobs are simply trying to follow their skip’s lead at Canada’s Olympic curling trials.

The plan is working as another near-perfect performance from Brad Jacobs has the rink one win away from a berth in the Winter Games.

Jacobs used a pair of in-off double takeouts for big scores in an 8-3 rout of Kevin Koe in Saturday’s semifinal. Jacobs scored four in the third end and added another fourender in the fifth.

“Brad has been fantastic, and I think when you feel like your skip is going to make everything it allows everybody to be a little more relaxed,” said Kennedy. “That has kind of been the story of the week.”

Koe, who represented Canada at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games but missed the podium, conceded after six ends.

“It came to a quick thud out there,” Koe said. “It sucks.”

Jacobs has rolled through the competition at SaskTel Centre with the lone hiccup a 7-6 extra-end loss to Brad Gushue. He was in full control against Koe after the teams opened with a pair of blanks.

“This is just the best team performance I can remember that we’ve put together to this point,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs will square off against Gushue in Sunday night’s final for the right to wear the maple leaf in Beijing starting Feb. 4.

Gushue had the same 7-1 roundrobin record as Jacobs, but earned the top seed thanks to the head-tohead victory.

Both teams have plenty of Olympic experience.

Kennedy won Olympic gold in 2010 with Kevin Martin and returned to the Games in 2018 with Koe. Jacobs and his front end of E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden won an Olympic title in 2014. Gushue and third Mark Nichols were victorious at the 2006 Winter Games.

In a women’s tiebreaker, Krista McCarville scored a single in an extra end for a 4-3 victory over Kerri Einarson. McCarville advanced to Saturday night’s semifinal against Jennifer Jones, who won 8-3 and will face unbeaten Tracy Fleury in Sunday’s final.

Jones won Olympic gold in Sochi and reached the semifinal as the No. 2 seed.