Glenn Howard is shooting for an unprecendented third straight Masters of Curling title. Glenn Howard is shooting for an unprecendented third straight Masters of Curling title. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press file photo)

Glenn Howard will try to win his third consecutive Masters of Curling title when he faces off against Kevin Koe in the finals of the Grand Slam event in Waterloo, Ont.

Howard, from Coldwater, Ont., defeated Winnipeg's Jeff Stoughton 6-4 in the semifinals Saturday, while Koe edged Brad Gushue of St. John's, NL., 3-2 to advance to Sunday's final (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 1 p.m. ET).

The championship matchup is a rematch of last year's final in Saskatoon, when Howard beat Koe 7-3.

Tied 2-2, Howard scored a deuce in the fourth end after tapping a Stoughton rock and rolling his final stone into the button. After Stoughton scored a point in the fifth, Howard responded with a draw to the button for two in the sixth end to gain an insurmountable 6-3 advantage.

Aside from claimed a third consecutive Masters crown, Howard will also be aiming to win his fifth consecutive tournament to start the season.

"To win the first four — and here we are in the final of another one — it's just surreal," Howard said. "You love to dream of it, but you just don't ever expect it."

In Saturday's other semifinal, Gushue and Koe engaged in a tight battle that featured five blanked ends.

Trailing 1-0, Gushue grabbed his first lead in the sixth end after executing a straight hit for a deuce to take the lead.

After both teams blanked the seventh end, Koe won the match on the game's final shot as fourth Blake MacDonald made a double takeout and roll to score two points.

"I don't know if I've been in a game that's been that low-scoring," said Koe. "Brad was throwing corners in every end and that's just kind of the way the ends played out. We were happy to play that way and they seemed like they were happy, too."

The Masters is the first event in the Grand Slam of Curling series, which continues with the National (beginning Dec. 3 in Quebec City), the Canadian Open (Jan. 21, Winnipeg) and the Players' Championship (April 14, Grande Prairie, Alta.).

The Grand Slams are part of the Canadian Curling Association's qualifying process for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Based on their performances at the Slams, teams can earn points toward a berth at the 2009 Canadian Olympic trials.