U.S. Women Cruise Into Medal Round

The United States women’s curling team clinched a spot in the semifinals of the Olympic tournament with an 11-2 victory over Norway on Monday.

The U.S. ended the round-robin portion with a 6-3 record, winning its last four games.

“This was our first expectation, reaching the final four. Now we just have two games to win,” team skip Kari Erickson said.

The Americans play Switzerland in Wednesday’s semifinals. The Swiss (7-2) finished second after victories Monday over Canada (8-1) and Germany (5-4).

There will be a playoff today to determine the opponent for top-seeded Canada in the semifinals. Great Britain (5-4) plays Sweden (5-4) in the playoff and the winner plays Germany, which received a bye.

The Americans led Norway, 6-1, after four ends, or innings.

In the men’s competition, Great Britain beat the U.S., 7-6, in a matchup of teams already eliminated from the medal round.

Canada defeated Denmark, 8-3, to clinch the top spot in the round-robin, and Norway handed Sweden its first loss, 9-8. Switzerland beat Germany, 10-4.