Jacobs beats Howard in extra end, opens Masters with back-to-back wins

OKOTOKS, Alta. – Brad Jacobs toppled Glen Howard 4-3 in Draw 5 action Wednesday night at the Masters Grand Slam of Curling for his second victory of the day.

Jacobs, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., needed an extra end to beat Howard after the native of Penetanguishene, Ont., scored a deuce in the eighth to tie it 3-3.

The two skips traded singles in the first two ends and were even 1-1 until the sixth when Jacobs scored a pair to go ahead 3-1.

Jacobs (2-0) also defeated Sweden’s Niklas Edin (0-1) 4-2 earlier in the day and is tied with Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock (2-0) atop the men’s standings.

Also, Calgary’s Kevin Koe evened his record with a 7-3 victory over American John Shuster (0-2). Koe (1-1) needed just seven ends to take the win.

Earlier, Mark Nichols (1-0) of St. John’s, N.L., led Brad Gushue’s rink to a 9-4 win over Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher (0-1). Nichols is leading the team while Gushue recovers from a hip injury.

On the women’s side, Tracy Fleury’s steal of three in the third end set her up for a decisive 7-4 win over 2014 champion Val Sweeting.

Fleury’s rink from Sudbury, Ont., opened up a 3-1 lead after scoring three with the hammer in the second end, then followed with the decisive steal in the third.

Fleury improved to 1-0, while Edmonton’s Sweeting is 0-2 after dropping her evening draw 6-5 against Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg (2-0).

Elsewhere, defending champion Rachel Homan (2-0) of Ottawa won her first match, 5-3 over Switzerland’s Alina Paetz (0-2) and her second 7-6 over Edmonton’s Kelsey Roque (1-1). Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones (1-1) bounced back from a morning loss against Allison Flaxley (1-0) of Caledon, Ont., with a 9-7 win over Russia’s Anna Sidorova.