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If you had told Team USA curler Ben Richardson a year ago that his team would defeat Sweden at the Olympics, what would he have said?

"I'd probably be pinching myself, for sure," Richardson said on Sunday. "This is a pretty surreal experience, but I'm a very grateful to be here and we're all really enjoying ourselves."

The youngest men's curling team in the tournament took down one of the most veteran on Sunday morning. Team USA, consisting of four players all under 27 years old, was in control for most of Sunday's 8-5 victory over Sweden, the defending Olympic gold medalists.

Danny Casper's team showed confidence and poise beyond their years, something they've made a staple of their game despite the fact they came to Italy with very little international experience.

"We know all of these teams are really good. We know we can beat any of these teams, and we're here to win," Richardson said. "That's been our goal the whole week. Thankfully, we've gotten some wins under our belt now."

The U.S. took its first lead in the fourth by taking advantage of a Swedish miscue. On Sweden's final throw of the end, Niklas Edin had an uncharacteristic miss, throwing the rock all the way through the house on a takeout attempt, allowing Casper to just draw to the button for three and a 4-2 lead for the U.S. as Aidan Oldenburg threw his hands in the air and yelled, "Yeah, baby!"

Team USA added to the lead with one in the sixth, and stole another single in the seventh on an aggressive call by Casper, who opted to runback his own red guard into the lone Swedish stone in the house. Their confidence showed, and Casper's throw curled just enough to get the takeout. Edin's ensuing hammer throw overcurled and didn't touch the American stone, allowing the U.S. to go up 6-3 with three ends to play.

"We took advantage of a couple misses and were able to execute when it really mattered," Richardson said.

Sweden got two back in the eighth, but the U.S. again responded with two in the ninth for a three-point lead that the Swedish squad couldn't touch.

Needing just a single takeout on the seventh stone in the 10th, Casper came up with his game-high 14th takeout of the match, forcing Sweden to concede the final stone for the Team USA win.

"It feels great," Richardson. "That was a very important game for us."

Luc Violette added 13 takeouts for the Americans, who finished with 39 on an 84 percent success rate.

Sweden's Oskar Eriksson said his team struggled to figure out the ice and couldn't get anything going throughout the match. The 2022 world champs have struggled in their time in Cortina, and are just 1-4 so far in these games.

"We've just got to figure out the ice faster tomorrow," Eriksson said. "Play eight perfect shots every end, and hopefully we can win the game tomorrow, and then we'll see. I think we need some help right now. We'll just focus on our part and that's winning the next four games. 

"We've played a lot of championships together, and we know it's still possible, but we can only focus on what we can do and that's playing better curling. Then we'll see at the end of the week if it's enough or not."

SCOREBOARD

The second game for Team USA on Sunday looked like it was going to be an easy victory, but Norway made sure it anything but that in the second half.

The U.S. opened the contest with a single point in the first. Norway opted to be aggressive and go for a double at the end of the second that would have given them three, but the shot missed, allowing the U.S. to steal two.

They stole two more in the third. Danny Casper took out Norway's lone sitting stone on his final throw, and left his two rocks sitting on opposites sides the four-foot, eliminating the opportunity for a double takeout. Magnus Ramsfjell this time tried for a simple draw for one, but he again misfired. His throw went through the house, and the U.S. led 5-0 at the end of three.

In the not until the ninth when Norway took advantage of a U.S. mistake. On Casper's final throw, he needed to get a double to eliminate Norway's chance at multiple points, but he only came away with one. Ramsfjell eliminated the U.S.'s only stone in the house and gave his team three points to tie the score, 8-8, going into the 10th.

In the final end, Ramsfjell drew his last throw behind a guard and right on the back of the four-foot. Casper and his team took no time to think it over. He went for the runback. His stone knocked the guard into the house, where it took out Norway's stone and stuck for two points — and the win.

"It was just grit," Casper said of the win. "A lot of the second half of the game we just couldn't find it. We were off, like, half of an inch. I was struggling with my draw weight, and we just stayed with it. Obviously, we had a cushion so that helps, but even in other games, too, when we're just not feeling it early we've been doing a good job of someone picking someone else up and we did that. 

"It's hard to keep the lead for a lot of the game. ... Today it was me that needed some pickup from everybody else, so they did a good job."

In the win, the U.S. had 47 takeouts and shot 84 percent as a team. Norway finished with just 23 takeouts.

SCOREBOARD

Through Monday's two sessions of play, the U.S. (4-2) now sits tied for third in the standings. The top four teams at the end of round-robin play move on to the semifinals. 

Only one other U.S. men's team has started 4-2 or better at an Olympics. The 2006 team started 5-1 through six games and went on to win the bronze medal.

"Just keep improving with each game," Richardson said. "I think we're getting a better handle on the ice with each game, and I feel like we're all throwing it pretty well and we're able to judge rocks pretty well. So just try to keep getting better little-by-little."

The Americans will have the day off on Monday, and will return on Tuesday morning to take on China at 3:05 a.m. ET.

"It’s going to feel great to have a day off," Casper said. "The day off is going to feel amazing. We're going to be confident going into the next games. Just stretch and keep on keeping on, and we're just going to keep getting better."