 The all-American rookies (Photo: Anil Mungal) are flying high with another win over Sweden. By: Cameron Sallaj Despite never representing the United States at the international men's level before, Daniel Casper and his American squad are proving they are still a force to be reckoned with at the Milano Cortina Games. After a tight opening draw win over Czechia, the American team of Casper, Luc Violette, Ben Richardson, Aidan Oldenburg and Rich Ruohonen suffered consecutive losses to Switzerland and Canada, pushing them down the leaderboard. On Saturday, however, they took down Germany to even their record at 2-2. Trying to put together a winning streak, the team took on Sweden's Niklas Edin, the reigning Olympic gold medalists. A conservative start saw both teams only manage singles through the first three ends. Then in four, a catastrophic flash on a double takeout from Edin allowed Casper a draw to the eight-foot to put three on the board, pushing the Americans into the lead 4-2. Through five and six the singles continued as the United States took a 5-3 lead. Then in seven, another missed double by Edin resulted in a steal of one as Casper inched closer towards the upset. Still alive, Sweden drew the eight-foot for two in the eighth to tighten the score 6-5. This progressed would immediately be undone in the next end, however, as the United States drew for two to re-extend their lead. After running Sweden out of rocks in the tenth, the USA took the 8-5 win. This was a pivotal victory for the American side who now sit just one game back of the playoff group at 3-2. In their next game, the team take on Norway's Magnus Ramsfjell (3-1) in another crucial game before having the day off on Monday. They'll then play China and Italy on Tuesday before closing out against Great Britain. For Edin's Swedish squad, the loss moves them to 1-4 and puts them in a must win scenario if they want to repeat as Olympic champions. Still to come for the Swedes are Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Czechia. Olympic Men's Standings - Draw 6 Switzerland (Schwaller): 4-0 Great Britain (Mouat): 4-1 Norway (Ramsfjell): 3-1 Canada (Jacobs): 3-1 The United States (Casper): 3-2 Italy (Retornaz): 2-2 Germany (Muskatewitz): 2-3 Sweden (Edin): 1-4 Czechia (Klima): 0-4 China (Xu): 0-4 |
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Sweden's Anna Hasselborg (Photo: Anil Mungal) are the team to beat so far in Cortina with five straight wins to begin the competition.
