On March 15-22, 2022, the top junior curling nations from around the world are competing in Jönköping, Sweden, in the World Junior Curling Championships 2022.

The U.S. women, Delaney Strouse, Anne O’Hara, Sydney Mullaney, Susan Dudt, and Kaitlin Murphy clinched their playoff berth on Thursday morning at the World Junior Curling Championships 2022 by defeating Canada 11-5 and moving to a 6-1 record to sit atop the standings.

After opening the competition with a loss, Team USA made a notable rebound, managing to come out victorious, even in very tight games.

“As the games have gotten close, we’ve allowed ourselves to take a deep breath, stay calm, and refocus on what our goals are of each end,” said Susan Dudt. “This has allowed us to increase our accuracy and precision.”

With the top four teams of the ten-team pool advancing to the playoffs, Team USA’s record was strong enough to guarantee a position in the playoffs.

“It’s really exciting being the first team to qualify because it’s allowed us to put a little less pressure on ourselves in our last few round robin games before we head into the playoffs,” said Susan Dudt.

However, with two round robin games remaining, playoff seeding was still up for grabs.

“Our goal going into the final two round robin games was to keep up our intensity and accuracy that we need for the playoffs,” said Anne O’Hara.

After punching their tickets to the playoffs of the World Junior Curling Championships 2022, the U.S. junior women returned to the ice the following day and defeated Denmark 13-0 in just six ends.

In the ninth and final round robin game, the U.S. trailed Norway by a single point after eight ends, but a three-point score in the ninth end gave Norway a four-point advantage that could not be returned.

With a 7-2 overall record, the U.S. Women have clinched the second seed in the playoffs and will face Japan in a semifinal matchup on Saturday at 12pm CDT.

“I think our team dynamics have played a huge part,” answered Susan Dudt when asked about the team’s secret recipe for success. “Especially when it comes to our communication, it’s allowed us to stay cohesive and precise as the week has gone on.”

The winner of tomorrow’s semifinal will advance to play for the gold medal and the loser will compete for bronze.

WATCH:

World Curling TV will be broadcasting 16 games from the World Junior Curling Championships 2022 in Jönköping, Sweden. The games highlighted in the below schedule will be available for live viewing exclusively on The Curling Channel in partnership with Recast. Sign up for Recast using https://wcf.co/CurlingChannel to receive 100 free credits and begin watching live coverage immediately.

USA Curling is sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, Toyota, Twin Cities Orthopedics, Training HAUS, Brakebush, ISS (Ice, Sports & Solar), and Sitrin, and is partnered with IHG, Rock Solid Productions Inc., Laurie Artiss Ltd. – The Pin People.