Much to the delight of the crowd in St. John’s, Brad Gushue’s Team Newfoundland punched their ticket to the Brier final.
Gushue and company defeated Manitoba’s Mike McEwen 7-4 in Friday night’s 1-vs-2 Page Playoff game.
Newfoundland advances straight to Sunday’s final while Manitoba now awaits an opponent for the semifinal on Saturday night.
Newfoundland scored two in each the second, fourth, and ninth ends and also stole a single point in the seventh end. Gushue forced McEwen to a single point in the first end and that was the only lead Manitoba had the entire game.
McEwen’s only deuce came in the eighth end to pull Manitoba within one, but Gushue answered back with a pair of his own in the ninth end to all but seal the win for Newfoundland. Gushue would run McEwen out of rocks in the 10th to clinch a spot in the final for the second straight year.
McEwen will now face the winner of the 3-vs-4 Page Playoff game between Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs and the Team Canada Kevin Koe rink.
McEwen’s foursome from the Fort Rouge Curling Club lost in the bronze medal game to Northern Ontario in their first Brier appearance in 2016.
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