In their second matchup at the Winter Olympics, Alaskan Vicky Persinger and teammate Chris Plys came up just a little short against Italy, leaving the U.S. squad at 1-1 in round-robin play as they move on to face Norway.
In their second game, against Italy, Persinger and Plys also mustered a late-game comeback — but they came up just a little short.
The U.S.-Italy game was a messy one, with both sides struggling with control of their weight and line in the early going. Italy benefited from a handful of missed or half-missed shots from the U.S. side and was ahead by a score of 5-1 after three ends. But the U.S. clawed their way back into the game, managing to score a single point in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth frames.
Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner had their own share of struggles, as Constantini held her rock too long on the final shot of the Sixth end and Mosaner tapped the final stone of the seventh while sweeping. The mistakes led to those rocks being removed from play, allowing the U.S. team to steal in the sixth end and limiting Italy to a single point in the seventh.
The game came down to Persinger’s final shot in the 8th end, where the Alaskan had an extremely difficult shot to take out both Italian stones from the rings. Her rock hung wide, barely clipping Italy’s shot rock and handing Italy an 8-4 victory. The loss left the U.S. squad at 1-1 in round-robin play as they moved on to face Norway.