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Amos Mosaner threw his water bottle on the coach’s bench after a critical miss. Italian teammate Sebastiano Arman kicked a rock against the bumper so hard he flipped the stone over.
Brad Jacobs left his opponents frustrated and discouraged on Wednesday after an 8-3 Canada victory that left the host team on the Olympic playoff bubble with one game remaining.
“Italy melted down, and we were able to get that win,” Jacobs said.
A four-point steal in the sixth end gave Canada a 7-3 lead. Italian skip Joel Retornaz missed a cross-house double-takeout in the seventh, and the teams shook hands.
The victory gave Canada hammer in its semifinal game on Thursday night and left Italy (4-4) in a dogfight to make the four-team playoff cut.
Jacobs and his Calgary-based side of Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert will finish second in the round-robin standings after improving to 7-1.
Brad Jacobs and his Calgary-based rink, who had already secured a spot in the Olympic semifinals, beats Italy’s Joël Retornaz 8-3 in men’s curling. Canada improves to 7-1 and won’t finish lower than second place in round-robin play, while Italy falls to 4-4.
“When the other team is showing their frustration, that’s when we start to feel like we’ve got them,” Jacobs said.
A round-robin finale against Norway’s Magnus Ramsfjell in the morning will be Canada’s last playoff tune-up.
Italy took a 3-0 lead when Jacobs had his rock roll out after a double-takeout in the third end. Canada rebounded with a deuce in the fourth and was gifted another point when Retornaz ticked a blank attempt.
“We started to get a few breaks and the back end was making some big shots,” Gallant said. “All of a sudden, it turned in our favour.”
‘We missed a lot of shots’
Both teams shot 83 per cent, but Retornaz struggled at 63 per cent, including just 50 per cent on draws.
“We missed a lot of shots,” said Italian national coach Marco Mariani. “That performance was not good enough in the sixth end and we [gave] away the game. That’s it, no more than that.”
Mosaner was wide with a double-takeout attempt in the sixth, removing his own stones from play and leaving Canada sitting three.
Retornaz tried a draw to salvage something, but wrecked on a guard.
Italian coach Ryan Fry tried to get his skip refocused before the seventh end, banging his hand on the bench for full effect. A near-sellout crowd was also in full voice, but nothing could get the players going.
“They’ve been in the game for so long, so have I, and I think everybody needs to react the way they want to in order to be ready for tomorrow’s game,” said Retornaz, who made his Olympic debut in 2006 at the Turin Games. “So, no problem about any reactions. I’m cool.”
It was the fourth straight victory for the Canadians, who are ranked fifth in the world.
“Honestly, 12 months ago, we lose that game 95 per cent of the time. Absolutely,” said Canadian coach Paul Webster. “So the ability to stay in that game was tremendous.”
Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller (8-0) defeated Norway 10-4 to remain unbeaten. Top-ranked Bruce Mouat of Great Britain dumped American Daniel Casper 9-2 to move into third place at 5-4.
Italy and Norway were tied at 4-4 while the Americans fell to 4-5.
Jacobs was the last Canadian skip to win men’s team gold at the Games. He was victorious at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Homan topples Italy in extra end
A relieved Rachel Homan folded her arms on top of the coach’s bench and rested her head in between them.
By the slimmest of margins, her Canadian women’s curling team was still in control of its own destiny at the Olympics.
Homan made a nerve-wracking draw that settled just inside an Italian stone for an 8-7 extra-end victory over Stefania Constantini on Wednesday night. The skip’s teammates and coaches could finally exhale as they hugged by the Canadian bench after earning their fourth straight win.
“We’re really proud of ourselves for continuing to stay with it and not to give up or let up,” said Canadian second Emma Miskew. “So that was a little bit of emotion from that too.”
Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based rink defeats Italy’s Stefania Constantini 8-7 at Milano Cortina 2026. Canada earns their fourth straight victory, improves to 5-3 in round-robin play and will clinch a spot in the semifinals with a win over South Korea on Thursday.
The much-needed win moved Canada (5-3) into a three-way tie for third place with South Korea’s Eunji Gim and American Tabitha Peterson. Homan will play Gim in their round-robin finale on Thursday.
With ice conditions changing late in the game and her draw ability impacted as a result, Homan’s game-winning throw picked on the way down.
The unexpected movement – usually caused by on-ice debris like a pebble or a hair – forced Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes to adjust on the fly.
“It looked like it was sliding a little bit and then it just turned on itself,” Homan said. “So definitely some scary times, but they saw it turn on itself too, so they hit it hard.”
Homan, Miskew, Wilkes and third Tracy Fleury seemed to have the game in control after stealing a pair in the sixth end when Constantini was light on a draw.
But Italy scored back-to-back singles and Homan was forced to make a highlight-reel draw that spun back on the button for a deuce and 7-4 lead after nine. Constantini built the 10th end nicely and brought the home crowd at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium back to life with a soft-weight hit to tie the game.
She got some misses from the Canadian side in the extra end and played a guard with her last stone that forced Homan to draw for the win.
“To see how that last rock travelled and having the girls have to pounce on it, it’s an emotional roller-coaster,” said Canadian coach Heather Nedohin. “That’s what it shows, that these girls want every millimetre.”
Constantini, who has struggled this week (2-6), brought in alternate Rebecca Mariani for the evening matchup. Her team shot 77 per cent overall, just ahead of the Canadians at 75 per cent.
“It wasn’t our 100 per cent game but we’re sticking with each other and just trying to make the next one,” Homan said.
Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg (7-2) and Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni (6-2) have secured playoff berths. The other two spots will be determined Thursday.
Sweden defeated China’s Rui Wang 9-4 and Switzerland scored three in the 10th end for a 6-4 win over Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont. Great Britain’s Sophie Jackson dumped Japan’s Sayaka Yoshimura 9-3 in the other game.
Great Britain is alone in sixth place at 4-4 while Denmark fell to 4-5.
Semifinals will be played Friday and the medal games are set for the weekend.
This is Homan’s third consecutive appearance at the Winter Olympics. She missed the playoffs in women’s team play in 2018 and didn’t make the cut at the 2022 Games in mixed doubles.
Jennifer Jones skipped the last Canadian team to win Olympic gold. She was victorious at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.
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