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SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Brad Jacobs’s dream of winning his first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title on home ice is still alive after qualifying for the National playoffs during the final round-robin draw Friday.

The reigning Olympic gold medallist Jacobs scored deuces in the first and seventh ends during a 5-2 victory over Toronto’s John Epping to wrap up pool play with a 3-2 record to advance. Jacobs will play Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers (5-0) in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Epping was eliminated with a 2-3 record.

Defending champion Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Ont., capped a 5-0 round-robin run with a 5-2 win over Calgary’s Matthew Blandford (2-3). Howard earned the No. 1 seed for the quarterfinals and said he felt fantastic after the match.

“Obviously we got such a big break against Mark Kean in our second game and then we just started playing really solid after that,” said Howard, who won his 14th Grand Slam title as a skip at the event last season in Fort McMurray, Alta. “In the last three games, the guys have been making everything in front of me and I’m making a few shots. I’m pretty happy to be 5-0 so we’re off to the quarterfinals and we’ve still got some games we have to win. Hopefully, we get through tomorrow and then win this thing.”

Howard will face American Heath McCormick in the quarterfinals. 

Calgary’s John Morris (3-2) broke a 2-2 tie with a five-ender in the fifth and earned a 7-4 victory in seven ends over Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton (2-3). Morris rebounded from a 0-2 start to win three in a row and move on to meet Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher (4-1) in a “Battle of Alberta” quarterfinal match.

“We just knew we were better than what we were playing so we decided to regroup and take it one game at a time,” Team Morris lead Nolan Thiessen said. “We scraped one out against Mike (McEwen) that we very easily could have lost. It just gave us a little momentum and we came out today and played really well, got two wins and we’re in the playoffs so it’s great.”

Masters champion Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., played the spoiler winning 4-3 in an extra end over Calgary’s Kevin Koe. Both Gushue and Koe will miss the playoffs with 2-3 records.

Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz (2-3) finished on a high note with a 7-2 win in five ends over Rob Rumfeldt of Guelph, Ont. De Cruz scored deuces in the first and third ends and closed the game scoring three in the fifth. Rumfeldt went winless through the National at 0-5.

The fourth quarterfinal game sees a rematch between Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock and Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen. Laycock earned a 9-5 victory over McEwen during their round robin match in Draw 8. Both ended pool play with 3-2 records.

The quarterfinals go down Saturday at Noon ET on Sportsnet followed by the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. ET. The final is set for Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.