WINNER OF VIOLETTE VS. BRUNDIDGE SEMI-FINAL TO MEET DROPKIN IN FINAL
Team Dropkin faced Team Brundidge in the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game of the 2021 U.S. Men’s National Championship.
Opening the game with last rock advantage due to their higher seeding in the playoffs, Team Dropkin scored two points.
Dropkin forced Brundidge to a single point in the second end before going on a five-point tear, scoring two in the third and stealing another three points in the fourth.
Facing a pile of Dropkin stones in the four-foot, Brundidge perfectly executed a challenging angled runback to save the end.
Despite their score of one in the fifth end, the early lead established by Team Dropkin proved too much to recover from, resulting in an 8-2 victory for Dropkin after seven ends.
By winning the 1 vs. 2 game, Team Dropkin advances to the 2021 U.S. Men’s National Championship final and becomes the first of two teams from the event to qualify for the 2022 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
“It feels good to make it official,” said Tom Howell, explaining that qualifying for Trials was their first goal of the week.
The second goal of the week for the Dropkin skipped team is bringing home the National Championship title.
“Everyone in each position is groovin’, so we’re going to enjoy our time off to get some rest so we can come back tomorrow and do what we do,” added Howell.
In the 3 vs. 4 game, Teams Violette and Dunnam were all tied up after six ends of play. It was in the eighth end that Team Violette sprung ahead, scoring four points and gaining a three-point lead.
The three-point lead forced aggressive play from Team Dunnam to make up for the deficit with only two ends left. Facing four of his opponent’s stones on the last rock of the ninth end, Scott Dunnam’s draw attempt over-curled, resulting in a 10-4 victory for Team Violette.
“We keep helping each other become better curlers,” said Luc Violette. “If we keep doing that down the stretch, then I like our odds.”
Team Violette will face Team Brundidge in Sunday’s semi-final at 9:00 AM. The winner of that semi-final will meet Team Dropkin in the National Championship final at 7:00 PM and qualify for the 2022 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live scoring of the 2021 U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Championships.
The Championships will be broadcasted May 25-31 on the USA Curling Youtube Channel!
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