The final day of round robin action at the 2025 Montana’s Brier had plenty on the line with the playoffs looming.
For a pair of teams with Sault ties, the final round robin games meant a shot at first place in their respective pools.
For Matt Dunstone and his Manitoba-based rink, including Sault natives E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden, the final day of the round robin not only saw the team clinch a playoff spot.
The team also took top spot in Pool A thanks to a 7-6 win over Brad Gushue’s Team Canada rink in Thursday’s afternoon draw.
The win lifted the Dunstone rink to 7-1 in the round robin, the same record posted by the Gushue rink. Thursday’s win over Gushue gave Dunstone the tiebreaker and top spot.
With Gushue leading 5-3, Dunstone tied the game with a pair in the seventh end before a steal of one in the eighth end to take a 6-5 lead. Dunstone then scored a single in the 10th end to pick up the win.
Dunstone will now face Mike McEwen’s Saskatchewan-based team in Friday’s 1v2 page playoff qualifier game. McEwen finished second in Pool B after falling in his final round robin game on Thursday night.
Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs and his Alberta-based team grabbed top spot in Pool B with a perfect 8-0 record after beating McEwen 9-6 in an extra end in Thursday’s final round robin draw.
Jacobs opened the day with a 6-4 win over Felix Asselin of Quebec in Thursday’s morning draw.
Down 3-2 through six ends, Jacobs scored a pair in the eighth end before adding on two more in the 10th end to pick up the victory.
Jacobs will now face Gushue in the other 1v2 page playoff qualifier game.
Team Northern Ontario, skipped by John Epping, narrowly missed the playoffs after going 6-2.
The Epping rink beat Shane Latimer of Nunavut in Thursday’s afternoon draw to end their round robin schedule.
A six in the eighth end sealed the win for Epping, who was eliminated from playoff contention due to Dunstone’s win over Gushue.
Reid Carruthers of Manitoba finished third in Pool A with a 6-2 record while Nova Scotia’s Owen Purcell went 5-3 to grab third in Pool B.
Carruthers and Purcell will face the losing teams in Friday’s page playoff qualifier games in a second set of qualifier games set for Friday evening.
The four remaining teams after the completion of the qualifier games will compete in page playoff games on Saturday.