Mike Anderson and his team from Thornhill, Ont., stole their way to victory in the championship game of the 2018 Canadian mixed curling championship.

Anderson, playing alongside vice-skip Danielle Inglis, second Sean Harrison and lead Lauren Harrison, stole a go-ahead point in the seventh end and three more in the eighth and final end for a 7-3 win over previously undefeated Robert Desjardins of Quebec at the Swan River Curling Club.

Desjardins, a former Canadian mixed doubles champion, was left with a nearly impossible triple takeout with his final shot, but was unsuccessful, leaving three Ontario counters for the victory.

"Awesome would be the first word, proud would be the second," said Anderson when asked to describe the feeling of winning a Canadian title. "It's starting to set in; when we were reading the names of the people who've won the trophy in the past, and now to be considered in that class, and nobody can ever take that away from us; it's pretty special."

Quebec, which had won 11 consecutive games, couldn't have asked for a better start, opening the gold-medal game with two points and took a 3-1 lead after four ends.

Ontario capitalizes on miscues

But Ontario was able to keep Quebec from its defensive strategy in the final four ends of the game. Ontario blanked the fifth end and tied the game with a sixth-end deuce. When Desjardins tried to generate offence in the following end instead of going for a blank, Ontario made him pay with a series of wonderful shots that left a rock in the four-foot behind protection. Desjardins attempted draw-shot for a single was heavy, and Ontario had its first lead with the stolen point.

In the eighth, Ontario took advantage of a series of missed shots to leave Desjardins with a difficult shot.

"When we got to vice-skip rocks in the eighth end, we said, 'We've played three perfect ends. Let's not outsmart ourselves. Just keep doing what we're doing,'" said Anderson, a 32-year-old management consultant. "They [Quebec] kept it so open all week, but we knew we would get a couple opportunities and it was just going to be a matter of taking them when we got them. I was really proud of the team for sticking with it and staying positive."

Internationally experienced

Both Anderson and Inglis represented Canada internationally at the 2009 Winter Universiade, where Anderson skipped his rink to a fifth-place finish, while Inglis won silver throwing third rocks for Hollie Nicol's team. A year earlier, both won Canadian university championships representing Wilfrid Laurier University.

And while the husband-and-wife front end of Sean and Lauren Harrison haven't played internationally, Sean has some family history in that department. His dad, the late Neil Harrison, won two Briers and two world men's championships playing lead for Ed Werenich's renowned Ontario team.

Anderson's team will get its chance on the world stage at the 2018 world mixed championship next fall. The location and dates have yet to be announced by the World Curling Federation.

"It's unbelievable. I can't wait to get [the Team Canada uniform] back," said Anderson. "I was in awe the first time, and I feel like Danielle and I will be better prepared this time. You know you're going to be the No. 1 target when you go anywhere wearing the maple leaf. We accept that and can't wait to get started."

In the bronze-medal game, Newfoundland/Labrador's Chris Ford and his St. John's team — third Brooke Godsland, second Zach Young, and lead Kate Murphy — stole a crucial deuce in the fifth end, which made the difference in a 6-3 win over New Brunswick's Charlie Sullivan.