USA 9, Canada 8

For the first time in Olympic history, the U.S. women’s curling team has defeated Canada.

Down 8-7 in the final end, Tara Peterson stepped to the hog on the U.S.’s fourth shot. Peterson sent her stone down the ice, hit a Canadian guard and ran it back to clear all three of Canada’s stone and give her team some life. Peterson slid down the ice raising her arms to get the rowdy crowd on their side.

Later in the end, Rachel Homan needed a double-takeout on Canada’s final stone with the U.S. rocks on opposite sides of the eight-foot. The longtime skip got the first rock out, but missed the second. Tabitha Peterson finished the job for Team USA, drawing to the button for two and a 9-8 victory for the Americans.

Coming into the contest, Canada was 8-0 all-time against Team USA in women’s curling at the Olympics. Canada is also the heavy favorites in Cortina this week, coming in as the two-time defending world champions.

“We’re just ecstatic,” said U.S. third Cory Thiesse. “That's the No. 1 team in the world. They're the No. 1 team in the world for a reason. We knew that we were going to have to come out playing well today and just capitalize on any opportunities that they gave us, and I think we did a really great job of that today.”

In the first half of play, the U.S. only had hammer one time as they scored a single point in the third and stole another single in the fourth. 

Canada went into the half up, 3-2.

The game turned late around the sixth when the U.S. had four rocks splayed across the house. Homan's final throw only was only able to eliminate one before running out of the house, setting up another easy draw for Tabitha Peterson that resulted in four points for Team USA and their first lead of the game.

Canada took out the U.S.'s draw to the button on the final throw of the seventh to get two back.

In the eighth, Team USA had two rocks sitting on opposite sides of the four-foot and eight-foot. Homan was again successful on her second double-takeout attempt. Peterson’s team opted to take the point and go up by two instead of blanking the end to keep hammer. They went into the ninth up, 7-5.

But Canada answered in the penultimate end. Tabitha Peterson tried for a double on her final throw but just missed, leaving Canada sitting two. Homan finished with a draw to the button for three that gave the Canadians a one-point lead going to the 10th.

Even though the early play of the 10th made the U.S. final shot look easy, Thiesse said “You never know, but we have all of our trust in Tab.”

“The time clock was getting a little low, as well, so she just did a great job,” Thiesse added.

With the win, the U.S. improves to 2-1 in Cortina, and sits tied for third in the overall standings. They’ll next face Japan at 1:05 p.m. ET on Saturday.

“It's just given us a lot of confidence, I think,” Thiesse said of the win. “It's so much fun to be playing in front of our friends and family and to have so many people here cheering us on. We're just embracing that and just enjoying being here at the Olympics.”

Canada (1-1) falls to fifth in the standings. They’ll next take on Sweden at 3:05 a.m. ET on Saturday.

SCOREBOARD

United States (9)   Canada (8)
0 1st end 0
0 2nd end 2
1 3rd end 0
1 4th end 0
0 5th end 1
4 6th end 0
0 7th end 2
1 8th end 0
0 9th end 3
2 10th end 0

South Korea 9, Great Britain 3

The defending Olympic gold medalists have put themselves in an 0-2 hole in Cortina with a loss to South Korea on Friday.

The Koreans stole a point in the seventh, and stole two more in the eighth for the win. Gim Eun-Ji's team shot 93 percent on takeout attempts, and 80 percent on the day as a team.

Rebecca Morrison's Great Britain team struggled on takeouts, shooting just 74 percent. They went the final three ends of play without scoring a single points, and were forced to concede the ninth and 10th.

With the loss, Great Britain falls to the bottom of the standings. They'll look for win No. 1 on Saturday when they take on Canada at 3:05 a.m. ET.

South Korea picks up win No. 2 in Cortina. They'll next face Denmark at 1:05 p.m. ET on Saturday.

SCOREBOARD

Great Britain (3)   South Korea (9)
0 1st end 0
0 2nd end 2
1 3rd end 0
0 4th end 1
1 5th end 0
0 6th end 3
0 7th end 1
0 8th end 2
X 9th end  
X 10th end  

 

Switzerland 7, China 5

The Swiss team put up three points in the seventh and stole a single in the eighth on the way to Friday's two-point victory.

Switzerland had 42 takeouts in the win compared to just 26 for China. Silvana Tirinzoni and Carole Howald had 14 takeouts each, and Alina Patz added 12.

Switzerland (2-0) will next play Japan at 3:05 a.m. ET on Saturday. At the same time, China (1-1) will face Italy.

China (5)   Switzerland (7)
0 1st end 0
0 2nd end 1
1 3rd end 0
1 4th end 0
0 5th end 2
1 6th end 0
0 7th end 3
0 8th end 1
2 9th end 0
X 10th end X

Sweden 6, Denmark 5

Sweden scored the game-winning single in the 10th for a one-point victory over Denmark.

The two teams were nearly even in all aspects of the game, including both shooting 81 percent on take-outs and, and both finishing with two stolen points in one stolen end.

With the win, Sweden improves to 3-0 to stay atop the standings. They'll next take on Italy at 1:05 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Denmark (1-2) sits alone in seventh place overall. They'll play South Korea at the same time on Saturday.

SCOREBOARD

Denmark (5)   Sweden (6)
0 1st end 0
2 2nd end 0
0 3rd end 1
0 4th end 2
1 5th end 0
0 6th end 1
1 7th end 0
0 8th end 1
1 9th end 0
0 10th end 1