One spot in the final is spoken for at the Viterra Championship in Portage la Prairie.
Top seed and 2015 champion Reid Carruthers advanced to the championship game. In a battle of the only remaining unbeaten rinks, Carruthers defeated Mike McEwen 4-2 in the 1-vs-2 Page Playoff game.
Carruthers blanked the first four ends of the match. The turning point came in the eighth end when McEwen’s last rock picked, giving Carruthers a steal of two.
“Probably played well enough to win that game and sometimes luck is on your side and today it definitely was not on our side.” said McEwen. “Out of my hand it was definitely there and it just caught a soft spot or something and then just went crazy there.”
It was the sixth straight victory for Carruthers who is now just one win away from another provincial title.
“It was a good curling game back and forth.” Carruthers said. “It was just kinda unfortunate that’s probably what determined the outcome of that game. At the same time, it’s not like we didn’t play well, so I think they’re gonna come back and battle hard tomorrow.”
WATCH: Highlights 1-vs-2 Game – Reid Carruthers vs Mike McEwen
McEwen will now face Trevor Loreth in Sunday morning’s semifinal. Loreth ousted fifth seed Jason Gunnlaugson in the 3-vs-4 Page Playoff game with a convincing 8-3 triumph.
With Brad Haight throwing the skip stones for Loreth, he executed a perfect run back to score three points in the fourth end. They also stole single points in each the fifth and eighth ends to advance to the final day of competition. Loreth will enter the semifinal riding a three game win streak.
WATCH: Highlights 3-vs-4 Game – Jason Gunnlaugson vs Trevor Loreth
Prior to the start of the championship round the all-star team was announced. Reid Carruthers was chosen as the all-star skip for the second time in his career, also winning in 2009. Team Carruthers’ Braeden Moskowy is a first time all-star at third. Team McEwen’s Matt Wozniak was named the all-star second for the fifth time. And his teammate Denni Neufeld grabbed the all-star honours at lead for the fifth time as well.
Meanwhile fellow curlers chose Gunnlaugson as the winner of the 2017 Pat Spiring Award. The honour is given to a player for his on-ice ability, love of the game and his respect for the traditions and spirit of the sport of curling.
WATCH: Post Game Interviews with Reid Carruthers and Mike McEwen
RELATED: Top seeds sail through to the playoffs at the Viterra Championship
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