The United States wheelchair curling mixed doubles team lost its semifinal match against South Korea 6-3.
The team is comprised of Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer, two Wisconsin natives.
Down 5-2 in the sixth, Emt and Dwyer had hammer and decided to use a power play. Each doubles squad is allowed one per game, which enables them to move the two pre-positioned end rocks from the longitudinal centerline to the side of the sheet, opening up the field of play for more scoring opportunities.
The U.S. took advantage of the unclogged sheet, executing four draw shots (scoring, in house shots) in a row. By the ninth stone, they had four lying closest to the button, so collecting a massive, lead-changing four points was very much in the mix. For a few, short-lived moments.
Baek Hyejin threw a rock that curled perfectly into a pocket of two American stones sitting just outside the button. It gave South Korea shot rock. Dwyer’s hammer stone, which aimed to take out the South Korean shot rock, missed, awarding her adversaries a point and a 6-2 advantage.
Instead of leading 6-5 or knotting things up at 5, the U.S. trailed by four. It was an absolutely massive swing, one that potentially decided the game.
As much as the Americans tried to build back any kind of momentum in the seventh and eighth, South Korea’s mix of pin-point accurate draw and guard shots dashed any hopes of multi-point ends.
South Korea held on and won 6-3. They will go onto the gold medal game to face China on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Paralympic journey is not yet over for Emt and Dwyer, who will compete against Latvia — a team they defeated in round-robin play — in the bronze medal game on Wednesday. That match will air on USA Network, as well as stream live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com, at 9:35 a.m. ET.
