Sports posted Mar 7, 2025 @ 04:15pm by Josh Duncan

Gushue and Dunstone 1 win away from Brier final, 2 teams will be eliminated tonight

Two years after facing off for the Brier title in London, Brad Gushue and Matt Dunstone are both one step closer to a potential finals rematch in Kelowna on Sunday.

After Dunstone stole away top spot in Pool A with an impressive victory over Gushue on Thursday, the two skips were up against the top two teams from Pool B this afternoon in the Page 1-2 qualifiers.

The winners would advance to play each other for a spot in the final on Saturday night, while the losers would have to face the two third-place teams this evening.

<who>Photo Credit: Curling Canada/Michael Burns</who>Brad Jacobs and Marc Kennedy talk things over during their playoff game against Team Canada on Friday afternoon.

Dunstone’s Manitoba rink was up against Mike McEwen’s Team Saskatchewan in a matchup that saw the two talented skips go back and forth on the scoreboard.

The game was tied 3-3 at the break, but Dunstone scored a pair in the sixth and would never look back.

He stole a point in the eight to go up 6-3 and held on for a 6-5 win, giving his team the night off to enjoy the action and prepare for another showdown with Gushue on Saturday.

<who>Photo Credit: Curling Canada/Michael Burns</who>Matt Dunstone is one win away from his second Brier final.

Gushue and Team Canada took on Brad Jacobs’ Alberta rink on the neighbouring sheet and the matchup was a back-and-forth affair as well.

The two teams exchanged singles and were tied at one, two, three and finally four apiece entering the ninth end.

That’s when the defending champions secured three points to go up 7-4 and cue the handshakes.

<who>Photo Credit: Curling Canada/Michael Burns</who>A businesslike Team Canada daps each other up after Friday's win.

While Team Gushue and Team Dunstone will now enjoy more than 24 hours off, Team Jacobs and Team McEwen will need to take the long road to the final.

They’ll look to stay alive tonight, as Jacobs and company take on Owen Purcell’s Nova Scotia rink and Saskatchewan goes up against Carruthers-Manitoba.

The losers of those two matchups will see their Brier journey end, while the winners will take each other on in the Page 3-4 playoff game at 12:30 pm Saturday.

<who>Photo Credit: Curling Canada/Michael Burns</who>Mike McEwen has now lost two straight after starting the Brier 7-0 and he'll need to go a perfect 4-0 the rest of the way if he wants to lift the trophy on Sunday.

The winner of that will advance to play in Sunday’s semi-final game against the loser of Gushue and Dunstone’s Saturday night game. The winner of that game will be waiting in the final for the winner of the semi.

Tonight’s action gets underway at Prospera Place at 6:30 pm and if you won’t be there in person, you can catch all the action on TSN.

Send your comments, news tips, typos, letter to the editor, photos and videos to [email protected].