By Matt Gephart
GANGNEUNG, South Korea — Expectations were high for the U.S. Curling team after a tough loss to the Koreans to start the Paralympic Games. Saturday’s Round Robin consisted of a match versus team Germany first, and Sweden second.
The U.S. team came out firing on all cylinders this round as they placed 3 stones in the second end to take a 3-0 lead over the Germans. But the lead dwindled and the U.S. Team found themselves behind by one stone going into the 5th end after finding many stones placed at the back of the sheet.
The Germans outplayed the U.S. Team through the next rounds until the 7th round, where the US was only able to score one stone, conceding the 8th round to the Germans in a 4-6 bout.
The U.S. team’s next Round Robin led themselves to a plot against the Swedish team who had also lost their first two rounds of the Paralympic Games.
The first end scored 2 stones for the U.S. team after having all of their stones removed from the sheet by the 8th throw. They were able to score 2 more stones in the next end, followed by two single point ends to give them a 6-0 lead going into the 5th.
Sweden came to within a 4 point deficit after the 5th end, but was not able to slate any more stones through the final 3, forfeiting the 8th end due to concession. The U.S. team took home their first win in the Round Robin with a final score of 10-2, routing Sweden.
The U.S. Team’s next Round Robins are scheduled for Monday, versus Finland and the Neutral Paralympic Athletes teams, both streamed by NBC Sports in their Olympic’s App!
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