PLAYOFF PICTURE COMPLETE AT 2022 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS FOR MIXED DOUBLES CURLING
Photo by Bob Weder
On Friday at 9:00AM (ET) the four teams with 5-4 records at the conclusion of the round robin competed in a tiebreaker session to determine the two remaining playoff spots.
Team Sinclair/Ruohonen faced Christensen/Shuster in the feature tiebreaker game on the NBC Sports App.
Taking two with their hammer in the first end, Sinclair/Ruohonen then forced Christensen/Shuster to a single before taking two more in the third. Christensen/Shuster utilized their powerplay in the fourth end to try to counter the three-point deficit and managed to score a deuce, followed by a steal of one to tie the game at 4-4 after five ends.
It was in the sixth end that Sinclair/Ruohonen blew the game open when Christensen/Shuster’s freeze attempt came up short, leaving Sinclair a takeout that resulted in a score of four points.
"The end was developing really well and we were pretty pleased,” said Rich Ruohonen. “It was the turning point in the game. Obviously, we knew we had to score there because it was tied going into the sixth, so we decided to use the power play and made just about every shot.”
Sinclair/Ruohonen ran Christensen/Shuster out of stones, earning their berth the playoffs with an 8-5 tiebreaker victory.
Team Hamilton/Hamilton played Peterson/Polo in their tiebreaker matchup. Hamilton/Hamilton’s score of one followed by a steal of one gave them a two-point advantage after two ends.
Peterson/Polo rebounded by scoring a deuce with hammer, followed by two consecutive steals to take a 4-2 lead after five ends of play.
In the sixth end, Hamilton/Hamilton utilized their power play but were only able to generate a single before stealing two more in the seventh.
Trailing the Hamilton siblings by one point with hammer in the last end, Peterson/Polo narrowly picked out the Hamilton/Hamilton counter that sat between a bundle of Peterson/Polo stones on the button.
"It felt like a really good throw,” said Tabitha Peterson. “We had seen that spot a few times and it kind of would fall back a hair if you give a few hard brushes on it. We just had to be a little cautious on the sweep and it went right in there."
Peterson/Polo’s execution in the final end resulted in a score of four and playoff qualification.
At the completion of Saturday morning’s tiebreakers, the playoff field rankings are set:
Persinger/Plys
Anderson/Dropkin
Sinclair/Ruohonen
Peterson/Polo
Teams Sinclair/Ruohonen and Peterson/Polo will meet in the 3 vs. 4 page playoff game at 1:00 PM (ET) on NBC Sports Network.
The winner of the 3 vs. 4 game will advance to play the loser of the 1 vs. 2 game in a semifinal on Sunday at 12:00 PM (ET) on the Olympic Channel.
Teams Persinger/Plys and Anderson/Dropkin will face off in the 1 vs. 2 game Saturday afternoon at 3:30PM (ET), where the winner will advance directly to the Trials final on Sunday at 8:00PM (ET) to play the winner of the semifinal game.
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