Team Ontario steals way to critical win at Tim Hortons Brier

BRANDON, Man. – Scott McDonald and Team Ontario stole three single points for a critical 5-4 win over Stuart Thompson and Team Nova Scotia Tuesday to keep their hopes of advancing into the Championship Pool at the Tim Hortons Brier, presented by AGI, alive. It was the third straight win for Team Ontario (3-2, Kingston) and a costly loss for Team Nova Scotia (3-2, Dartmouth). “We knew it was an important one and we knew how good of a team Stu is … so we knew we had to play well,” McDonald said after his team of third Jonathan Beuk, second Wesley Forget, lead Scott Chadwick, alternate Jeff Grant and coach Sean Turriff, stole singles in the third, fourth and seventh ends. “They won the hammer and had the advantage to start the game, but we had a nice, tidy end and got the force to start. Then we got control with the steals, forced them into some tricky shots and getting a steal early was really important for momentum.” The loss for Thompson, third Colten Steele, second Travis Colter, lead Taylor Ardiel, alternate Bill MacPhee and coach Kevin Patterson, came after three straight wins. The loss now puts them in a precarious position for advancing. Their final two games in the round robin on Wednesday are against Team Canada and Team Alberta, the top two teams in Pool B. “We started okay, our front end was playing well, setting us up well but Colten and I, on the back end, we weren’t capitalizing,” said Thompson. “We had chances, especially in the second and third ends, to put two on the board both those ends and we didn’t capitalize. “We’re in a tough spot now, especially against the teams we’re going up against.” Kevin Koe and Team Alberta (5-0, Calgary) and Brad Gushue and Team Canada (4-1, St. John’s, N.L.) both posted wins in the afternoon draw to solidify their positions. Two-time defending champion Gushue and Team Canade were in tough and needed a last-rock tap-back inside the four-foot to score two in the tenth end and escape with an 8-7 win over Terry Odishaw and Team New Brunswick (1-4, Moncton). “That wasn’t our best game,” admitted Gushue. “I played poorly and made, in hindsight, some poor decisions in strategy and didn’t quite have the patience I normally do. I have to be better, but obviously that last shot makes up for a lot of it.” Three-time Tim Hortons Brier champion Kevin Koe and Team Alberta scored three in the seventh and two in nine to beat Jim Cotter and Team British Columbia (3-2, Vernon) 9-5. Jamie Koe, who removed himself late in the game to give David Aho a chance to skip, led Team Northwest Territories (1-4, Yellowknife) to a 9-4 win over David St. Louis and Team Nunavut (0-5, Iqaluit). The top four teams in each of the two eight-team pools after Wednesday’s round-robin draws advance to the Championship Pool. The 2019 Tim Hortons Brier continues with tonight’s draw at 7 p.m. CST. Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/ TSN and RDS2 (streamed on ESPN3 in the United States) will provide complete coverage of the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule. For ticket information for the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier, go to www.curling.ca/2019brier/tickets. This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2019brier/?lang=fr