THREE TEAMS MOVE TO 2-0 RECORDS AT THE 2022 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS FOR MIXED DOUBLES CURLING
Photo by Bob Weder
On the feature sheet in the second session of the tournament, Persinger/Plys faced Burchesky/Richardson. After exchanging singles in the first two ends, Persinger/Plys put two points on the board. In the fourth end, Jenna Burchesky came close to executing an in-off into a pile of stones for a single point that resulted in a steal of a one for Persinger/Plys. After forcing Burchesky/Richardson to a single in the fifth, Persinger/Plys used the power play, removing a lone opponent stone with hammer to score five points.
"This is a really tough field,” said Vicky Persinger. “We could drop a game to any one of these teams, so it's kind of pedal down no matter who you're playing and trying to play the rock on the board. Every win is a big one."
Persinger/Plys’ 9-2 victory over Burchesky/Richardson completed a two-win and perfect opening day for the 2021 National Champs.
"I think we'll keep some of the good ones in the memory bank,” added Persinger. “It's a new day with new teams. Every one of them is important. We'll just and keep the momentum we have going forward."
Bear/Stopera took an early lead over Anderson/Dropkin by scoring five in the third end. Facing four Bear/Stopera counters in the fourth end, Anderson/Dropkin played a challenging draw to the four-foot to limit their opponents to a single. Utilizing the power play in the fifth, Anderson/Dropkin generated two more points. Returning the use of the power play in the sixth end, Bear/Stopera made a draw to the four-foot after Anderson/Dropkin jammed a takeout attempt. Facing three Bear/Stopera stones in the seventh end, Sarah Anderson made a takeout to score a single point, closing the game with a 10-5 final and victory for Bear/Stopera.
Geving/Violette opened their game against Hamilton/Hamilton with a demanding score of four points. Hamilton/Hamilton clawed back, scoring singles in the next three ends. Geving/Violette reextended their lead by scoring three in the fifth end. To answer the four-point deficit, Hamilton/Hamilton used their powerplay, but it was Geving/Violette who ended up with a point on the board, resulting in an 8-3 final and their first win of the event.
Peterson/Polo and Christensen/Shuster kept the score even through four ends, but it was Peterson/Polo with the first steal of the game in the sixth end to go up 4-2. Christensen/Shuster were forced to play an angle runback in the seventh end to remove Peterson/Polo’s shot rock, amounting to another single point and a 5-2 lead for Peterson/Polo. Unable to score three, Christensen/Shuster conceded to Peterson/Polo for a 5-2 final.
Sinclair/Ruohonen and Walker/Leichter exchanged scores of two in the first two ends and scores of one in the third and fourth ends. Sinclair/Ruohonen’s three-point score in the fifth end proved to be the difference maker as Walker/Leichter needed to score three points in the eighth end to force extras. Jamie Sinclair ran Walker/Leichter out of stones by making a double takeout with her last throw of the game, giving Sinclair/Ruohonen their second win of the day.
At the end of the first day of Trials, Peterson/Polo, Persinger/Plys, and Sinclair/Ruohonen maintain perfect 2-0 records.
The third draw of the 2022 U.S. Olympic Trials for Mixed Doubles Curling will be on Wednesday at 10:00AM Central. The web stream will feature Peterson/Polo (2-0) vs. Anderson/Dropkin (0-2) on the NBC Sports App and NBCOlympics.com.
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