BEIJING — Team USA made a major statement about the viability of its Olympic gold-medal defense on Friday (Thursday night Duluth time), knocking off Great Britain 9-7 in their third of nine round-robin games at the Olympic men's tournament.
The British rink, skipped by Bruce Mouat, is ranked No. 1 in the world and is the defending European champion and 2021 World Championship runner-up.
The Americans caught the first significant break by picking up three in the fourth end for a 5-2 lead. Britain pulled to within 5-4 at the halfway point, then stole two to take the lead in the sixth. However, a pair of precise shots allowed Team Shuster to regain the lead in the next end, and some defensive work held Britain to a single in the seventh, making it 7-7.
Shuster had a look at a 4-point play with his last rock of the ninth end but the bounces left the Americans with two. Britain had the hammer for the last end, but a combination of errors and American defense ensured the British could not keep two stones in the house to scoring the tying points.
Team USA (2-1) is idle for the next men's session on Friday night (early Friday morning in Duluth) and returns to the ice on Saturday afternoon (12:05 a.m. Duluth time) vs. Norway (1-1).
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- The American women's team continued a great start on Thursday night with a 7-5 victory over Denmark.
In an even contest, the American team got two in the eighth end, then held the Danes to a single in the ninth to cement their lead. Playing with the hammer, the Americans held off the Danes and added a point to their lead.
Team USA (2-0), which includes Duluthian Aileen Geving as an alternate, plays host China in a game that started just after midnight on Friday.
