News National

Gushue gets by De Cruz for second win at Boost National

CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH, N.L. — Team Brad Gushue grabbed a crucial second victory at the Boost National.

The St. John’s crew defeated Switzerland’s Team Peter de Cruz 5-3 at the sold-out CBS Arena Thursday night to improve to a 2-1 record in their home-province event.

It’s a short round-robin stage in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling with just four preliminary matches and a second win guarantees the crowd favourites at least a tiebreaker if not a direct playoff spot.

Team Gushue lost their opener Tuesday to Team Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland 8-6 in an extra end and recovered with a huge 8-1 win Wednesday over Scotland’s Team Ross Paterson. Gushue has one more group game remaining against defending champions Team Bruce Mouat of Scotland on Friday for an opportunity to guarantee a berth in the quarterfinals.

“We’ve got to win tomorrow because you never know,” Team Gushue lead Geoff Walker said. “You don’t want to fall into a tiebreaker if you even get that chance. … You’ve got to get that first win hopefully in that first game and it makes it a lot easier, so it’s going to be an uphill battle the rest of the way. But get a win tomorrow and for sure get into the playoffs and then see what happens.”

The match against De Cruz was a low-scoring affair with neither side able to capitalize nor willing to concede any critical mistakes for the most part. Team De Cruz fourth Benoit Schwarz hit and stuck around for a single in the first, however, he forced Gushue to draw to the four-foot circle for one in the second.

The see-saw singles kept coming as Schwarz bumped his own rock to promote it in for shot stone to grab another point in four. Gushue had a high-pressure draw against three counters in the fifth and somehow managed to cover the pin to knot it up 2-2.

De Cruz had to settle for yet another lone point in six as he sat shot rock but Schwarz’s last hung out there just a couple inches too far and they missed the deuce.

Gushue finally got the game’s first multiple-point score in the seventh. Schwarz’s final rock was left open and Gushue tapped it out to count a couple and pull ahead. Having the crowd on their side adds some pressure for Team Gushue but also motivates them to deliver the goods.

“When we scored the two in seven and the place erupted again, you just got the momentum and you just try not to let them down,” Walker said. “Up one in that situation is always tough now. There are a lot of deuces scored out there, obviously not as much in this game. You’ve just got to make all eight and hope.”

The tension reached its peak in the eighth and final frame with De Cruz trailing by one but holding the all-important hammer and threatening to score the game-winner. Gushue guarded up and blocked his shot rock forcing Schwarz to attempt a risky runback, however, he missed the mark. The crowd twirled their Team Gushue rally towels with delight after probably letting out a nervous sigh of relief, of course.

“I thought we played pretty well,” Walker said. “We had a couple misses and it seems to be the theme a bit with us this year. We’re not quite perfect every end like we have been over the last couple years but I thought we played a solid game.

“They made a lot of shots and made a lot of the right ones. We just hung in there. Brad made a great draw in the fifth end to keep it a tie game at that point, otherwise, it could have been a little bit ugly. Just hopefully, we can keep feeding on the momentum, the crowd has been awesome, it keeps us motivated.”

Team De Cruz was eliminated from playoff contention with a 0-3 record.

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Meanwhile, Mouat had to make it out of a tiebreaker en route to capturing his first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title a year ago, but doesn’t have to worry about taking the long road this time.

Mouat is through to the playoffs a game early with a 3-0 record by defeating Schwaller 8-5.

“It feels great,” Mouat said. “Last year was obviously a bit of a grind but we did it and it worked out for us. It’s kind of nice to not have that extra game this time and hopefully, we’ll get into the same run that we did last year.”

The game against Gushue might be tough for Mouat with the one-sided crowd, however, he’s actually enjoying the atmosphere.

“It’s sold out, it’s a buzz around the arena,” Mouat said. “We’re going to probably use that to our advantage as well. It’s obviously for them but we can still kind of use that buzz, so it’s good.”

Walker is also looking forward to the matchup against Mouat.

“They’re a great team,” Walker said. “We’ve played them quite a bit over the last couple years now and we know what to expect from them, so we just know we’re going to have to play well. Hopefully, we’ll make one or two more in the next game.”

Schwaller sits idle at 2-2 and awaits the results of the remaining round-robin draws for his team’s fate.

Team Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., punched their playoff ticket with authority following an 8-1 thrashing over Winnipeg’s Team Reid Carruthers. Jacobs, who remains undefeated at 3-0, settled for a single to start but swiped a point in the second and stole three more in the third to lead 5-0 early. Team Carruthers, with fourth Mike McEwen skipping, got their lone point in the fifth and Jacobs took a trey in the sixth.

Team Jacobs are fresh from winning the Canada Cup this past weekend plus their fourth Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title last month at the Tour Challenge. E.J. Harnden has moved up from second to third with Ryan Fry stepping back for a bit due to personal reasons. Matt Wozniak, who played second on McEwen’s old team, is filling in.

Team Carruthers (1-3) miss the playoffs at a third consecutive Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event after finishing runner-up at the season-opening Princess Auto Elite 10.

Team Glenn Howard (1-2) of Penetanguishene, Ont., made the tap through the tight port for two points in the eighth end to edge Toronto’s Team John Epping 7-6. Howard wrapped up round-robin play with a 2-2 record to stay in the mix while Epping slipped to 1-2.

Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe (2-1) picked up their second win on the day after defeating Saskatoon’s Team Kirk Muyres 7-3. Koe also beat Howard during the early afternoon draw. Muyres, who won the Tour Challenge Tier 2 title, dropped to a 1-2 record.

The Boost National is the fourth event and second major of the 2018-19 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season featuring 15 of the top men’s teams and 15 of the top women’s teams from around the world.

Both divisions are split into three pools for round-robin play with the top eight teams overall qualifying for Saturday’s quarterfinals. The semis are also set for Saturday with both finals taking place Sunday.

Round-robin play continues Friday at 9 a.m. local time with broadcast coverage resuming at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT on Sportsnet and streaming online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).

NOTES: Winners of the Boost National collect $30,000 of the $250,000 total purse plus berths to the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season finale Humpty’s Champions Cup. … Points are also on the line for the Pinty’s Cup, which is awarded to the overall season champions following the conclusion of the Players’ Championship in April. … All games are played to eight ends with 33 minutes of thinking time plus two, 90-second timeouts. The five-rock rule is also in effect.

Nov. 26 - Dec. 1, 2024 Mary Brown's Centre St. John's, NL