Roar of the Rings: Jacobs near perfect against Stoughton, proving Brier win no fluke

The host network flashed a graphic before Jeff Stoughton's final shot in the 9th end that contained a surprising fact: Stoughton, in four previous Canadian curling trials, had never won his first game. He was in tough for the first draw of the men's tournament, defeated by a machine-like Brad Jacobs to drop to 0-1 for the fifth consecutive Roar. That doesn't help his Olympic prospects, although he is still far from out of it.

Jacobs' Soo Curling Club rink came into the eight-team tournament as one of the favourites and looked like the better team Sunday night, once again showcasing that fine hitting game that won them a Brier back in March, beating Stoughton in the final. The veteran Stoughton, playing in his hometown for what is realistically his last chance to represent Canada at the Olympic games, was playing from behind all game after Jacobs capitalized on a picked rock to pick up two points in the second end en route to a 7-4 win.

The result should not be too surprising, even as the veteran Stoughton has been a household name in curling for years. What should be surprising is just how handedly Jacobs was able to beat him, with a more dominant performance than his play in the gold medal game at the Brier. Jacobs was curling 94% going into the 10th end and if he made mistakes, they weren't noticeable.

Jacobs and third Ryan Fry kept Stoughton playing defence through almost the entire first half, and it wasn't until the sixth that Stoughton was able to capitalize off of a rare Fry miss on a takeout and score his double to bring the score to 4-3. Jacobs kept the pressure up in the 7th, not allowing Stoughton to put rocks in play. Stoughton's vice-skip, Jon Mead, spilled too far on an attempted hit and roll behind cover, finding himself just out of the rings. If we know anything about Jacobs, they make opponents pay for little mistakes, and that miss left Jacobs the opportunity to peel the stone at the top of the house and allowing him to blank the end and keep the hammer.

Team Jacobs kept up the pressure in the eighth. It seemed no matter how Stoughton positioned his yellow rocks, Jacobs had an answer. Fry and Jacobs both made key doubles in the end, and Stoughton came up just shy on his draw with his final stone, giving Jacobs a chance to draw (with backing) a piece of the button for his deuce. He took a 6-3 lead through the eighth.

From there, it was routine. Fry made hits with both his rocks in the ninth, and Jacobs made yet another double, forcing Stoughton to take the single point and giving Jacobs the hammer coming home.

So it's a 1-0 start for Jacobs, Fry, E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden. In a "three losses and you're probably out" round robin, this puts a lot of pressure on Stoughton, who was saddled with a real tough schedule. It doesn't get easier for Stoughton, who must face 2010 gold medallist Kevin Martin in the afternoon draw Monday.

Other scores from Draw 2:

Kevin Martin (1-0) def. Mike McEwen (0-1)

A relatively low-scoring game through five ends, Martin broke the game open in the seventh with a three-ender, but McEwen struck back with two in the eighth. Martin's mastery of the tick game means he's usually unbeatable if he's spotted a point and the hammer going into the final ends, but he was still forced to make a draw against two to score a single in the tenth for a 5-3 victory.

John Morris (1-0) def. Glenn Howard (0-1)

This one can be considered a real upset. Morris's Kelowna, B.C. squad stole a pair in the first end and another in the second, giving them a 3-0 lead before the favoured Howard could even blink. Howard tied the game by the fourth, and teams exchanged single points (with hammer) until the eighth, when Jim Cotter, shooting fourth stones for Morris, made a takeout for three points in the ninth. Howard was run out of rocks in the tenth, with the final score 8-6 for Team Morris.

John Epping (1-0) def. Kevin Koe (0-1)

The most open game of the draw, Koe was tied 8-8 in the tenth and hit Epping's yellow shot stone to sit two without last rock, forcing Epping to draw around two guards and catch a piece of the button to win the game on his final stone of the end, which he did, making about as perfect of a shot as possible (brushers Collin Mitchell and David Mathers barely had to touch it) and closing out a very entertaining first day of action with a 9-8 victory.

For a recap of the women's draws on Day 1, click here for Don Landry's coverage.