(by Jonathan Brazeau)
PARADISE, N.L. — Team Brad Gushue had the crowd on their feet roaring again as the St. John’s rink slid past Charlottetown’s Team Adam Casey 8-1 during sold out Draw 9 Thursday night at the Tour Challenge.
Teams struggled through frosty ice conditions that led to a few lopsided scores on the board. Casey missed both of his shots in the first end and Gushue stole two points to go up 2-0. Gushue swiped another point in two and forced Casey to one in the third. Team Gushue closed out the game early with a five-ender in four.
Gushue improved to a 2-1 record after falling to Winnipeg’s Team Reid Carruthers in the opening night draw and bouncing back to take down David Murdoch on Wednesday night. Team Casey sits at 1-2.
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Meanwhile, Glenn Howard, of Penetanguishene, Ont., rolled to a 3-0 record following a 7-2 victory over Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock. Howard broke a 1-1 tie with a deuce in four, held Laycock to one in the fifth and scored four in the sixth.
Olympic gold medallist Brad Jacobs rebounded from a loss to Howard earlier in the day to shut out Switzerland’s Sven Michel 6-0. Jacobs, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., scored two in the second, stole three in the third and swiped another point in four to bring out the early handshakes. Jacobs moved up to a 2-1 record while Michel is heading home at 0-4.
In the women’s division, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan blanked Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque 7-0. Homan led 4-0 through three ends and stole three more when Rocque’s final shot in four didn’t make it to the hog line.
NOTES: The Tour Challenge is the first of two new tournaments on the expanded seven-event 2015-16 Pinty’s GSOC season and features 30 men’s and 30 women’s teams split into two tiers. … Winners of the Tier 1 divisions also receive berths to the second new Pinty’s GSOC event, the season-ending Champions Cup. … Tier 2 champions earn byes to the next Grand Slam, the Masters, running Oct. 27 to Nov. 1 in Truro, N.S.