USA 8, Sweden 7 (Game 2)

Sweden (7)
 
United States (8)

3
1st end
0

0
2nd end
3

1
3rd end
0

0
4th end
3

0
5th end
1

2
6th end
0

1
7th end
0

0
8th end
1

For the first time, the U.S. mixed doubles curling team is going to the Olympic semifinals.

The Americans needed either a win or a loss by Switzerland on Sunday to advance to the final four, but they didn’t leave their fate in the hands of someone else. The duo of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin defeated Sweden 8-7 to earn a spot in the next round.

Sweden was able to steal one in the seventh end to even the score at 7-7, setting up a winner-take-all eighth with Team USA owning hammer in the final frame.

On the fourth throw of the eighth, Sweden sat three rocks in the house in front of two USA stones. Dropkin called timeout to make sure he had time to think of the right play, and after a chat he threw it to perfection, coming away with a triple-takeout that eliminated all Swedish stones. 

Team USA proceeded to pick off Sweden’s next two throws. On their final throw, Isabella Wrana tried for a freeze on the button, but her rock didn’t curl and it sailed past the U.S.’s shot stone, giving the Americans one point and the win.

Sweden opened with three points in the first end, and the U.S. immediately responded. With three American stones on opposites sides of the 12-foot, Wrana’s double-takeout attempt was only half successful, and all Thiesse had to do was land Team USA’s final rock easily in the house to tie the score at 3-3 going into the third.

Thiesse’s team doubled that score in the fourth. With Sweden sitting shot stone alone in a house with two American rocks, Thiesse took that stone out to put the U.S. up, 6-4, at the halfway point.

Both Thiesse and Dropkin were shooting 100 percent through the first four ends play. Dropkin finished with 11 takeouts, and the duo finished the game shooting 82 percent.

With the win, the U.S. (6-2) clinches a spot in the semifinals for the first time since mixed doubles curling was introduced in the Olympics in 2018. Dropkin and Thiesse will finish round-robin play at 4:05 a.m. ET on Monday when they take on defending gold medalists Italy.

Sweden finished round-robin play 5-4.

SCOREBOARD