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American Curlers to play for gold

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Superior, Wisconsin’s John Shuster and the United States curling team will play for a gold medal against Sweden.

The Americans upset curling power Canada for the second time in less than a week, pulling out a 5-3 victory in Thursday’s semifinals.  Prior to this year, the U.S. had never beaten Canada at the Olympics and hadn’t made the podium since the 2006 Turin Games, when the Americans won a bronze medal.  Now the worst the U.S. can do is a silver medal.

It’s been a rocky path for Shuster, who was benched at the 2010 Vancouver Games in the middle of the tournament because of poor performance.  His team finished in ninth place in Sochi.

The turning point came in the eighth end with the score tied 2-2.  Canada had the “hammer”, but team skip Kevin Koe threw the stone too lightly and it came up short of the house.  The Americans came up with a two-point steal, putting them ahead 4-2 and in control.

The Americans went into the final end with a 4-3 lead, but Shuster had the hammer (last rock) and delivered the winning shot to pull out a point and 5-3 victory.

The Canadians will play for a bronze medal against Switzerland, which fell 9-3 to Sweden in the other semifinal match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Americans end drought, capture gold in women’s hockey

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The United States’ gold medal drought in women’s hockey came to an end on Wednesday night.  Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored in the sixth round of a shootout to lift the Americans past Canada 3-2.

The gold medal victory comes 20 years after their last gold medal in women’s hockey.

Gigi Marvin and Amanda Kessel also scored in the shootout for the U.S.  It comes four years after Canada won its fourth-straight gold medal in Sochi after rallying to beat the Americans in overtime.

Monique Lamoureux-Morando tied the game with a breakaway with 6:21 left in regulation.  Former Badger Hilary Knight also scored for the U.S. and Maddie Rooney had 29 saves in goal to pick up the win.

The U.S. ended a skid of five straight against their rivals to the north.  Since the United States captured gold in Nagano in 1998, Canada had won 24 straight Olympic games, including four straight gold medals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. Curling team moves into the semifinals

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After a 2-4 start, the U.S. men’s curling team, led by Superior, Wisconsin skip John Shuster, won three straight, including the most recent victory, 10-4 over Great Britain.

The American chances at a curling medal was looking slim before mounting their comeback that started with an upset of curling power Canada.  Ironically, the Canadians will be the opponent for the U.S. in the semifinals.

The U.S. is in the semifinals for the first time since 2006.  If they can pull another upset over Canada, they’ll be playing for gold.

U.S. Hockey Team falls in shootout

The U.S. men’s hockey team has been eliminated in the quarterfinals, falling to the Czech Republic 3-2 in a shootout. [Read more…]

U.S. and Canada set for Olympic Gold rematch

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The United States women’s hockey team knocked off Finland 5-0 in the Olympic semifinals to move into the Gold Medal game against rival Canada on Wednesday night.  Canada advanced to the finale by beating the Olympic Athletes from Russia 5-0.

Ten women on the U.S. team played on the Sochi Olympic team that lost to Canada 3-2 in overtime.  The U.S. had a 2-0 lead with under four minutes left in regulation, but the Canadians rallied to tie and force the overtime.

Dani Cameranesi scored a pair of goals for the U.S., giving her a team-high three in these Olympics.  Goaltender Maddie Rooney, making her fourth career Olympic start, pitched her second shutout.  The Americans outshot Finland 38-14.

The Americans have lost three of the last four gold-medal games.  Their only win came in 1998, over Canada.

The Canadians are riding a 25-match Olympic-winning streak, having not lost since that gold-medal game against the U.S. in 1998.

Canada also pulled out a 2-1 win over the Americans in this tournament, despite being outshot and outplayed.  Will the Americans finally end the drought?  It’s what they’ve been working towards for the last four years.  We’ll see if that work will pay off.

 

 

 

 

Americans fall in men’s hockey opener

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U.S. Men’s Coach Tony Granato

The U.S. Men’s Hockey Team jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but collapsed late and fell to Slovenia 3-2 in overtime in Gangneung, South Korea.

Slovenia captain Jan Mursak scored the tying goal with 1:37 left in regulation and the winner 38 seconds into overtime.

Brian O’Neill and Jordan Greenway scored to build the 2-0 lead, outshooting Slovenia 24-12 in the first two periods.

Slovenia came out in the third period and put the pressure on the Americans, cutting the lead in half when Jan Urbas lit the lamp 5:37 into the third period.

The U.S. did pick up a point by getting the game to overtime, while tournament favorite Olympic Athletes from Russia fell 3-2 in regulation to Slovakia.  After one game, Slovakia and Slovenia top Group B, followed by the U.S. and the Russians.

The Americans will face Slovakia on Friday.