FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2008

USA slides to fourth straight win at 2008 World Women's Championship

(VERNON, British Columbia) - Germany was no match for the USA women Monday afternoon as Debbie McCormick and company rolled past Andrea Schoepp's Germans, 6-3, at the 2008 Ford World Women's Championship at the Greater Vernon Multiplex.

McCormick (Rio, Wis.) and teammates Allison Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.), Nicole Joraanstad (Madison, Wis.) and Tracy Sachtjen (Lodi, Wis.) controlled the match against Germany from the first rock they threw to improve to 4-1 in the round robin standings.

"That felt good - a two-win day," said McCormick, whose team is making its third straight appearance at Worlds. "Everyone had good draw weight and rock positioning."

Andrea Schoepp is making her 15th appearance at this world championship for Germany, which is known more for its motorsports, lederhosens and Claudia Schiffer than curling. But it doesn't get any easier, the 43-year-old German said. "Our opponents so far have been very good," she said. The Germans fell to 1-3 with today's loss. "It's always tough here. It's not that we're playing that badly."

The Americans came out aggressive right from the start but ending up blanking the first end. McCormick tried to do the same in the second end but couldn't quite get her stone swept out of the house after making the takeout on the German stone in the side of the 12-foot. They followed up with a steal of one after getting a stone buried on the button behind a center guard. The U.S. had two other stones in scoring position as well with Schoepp opting to ignore the buried stone and cut the U.S. down to just one with a hit and roll.

"That's the kind of style we've played all season," McCormick said of the aggressive play. "We wanted to put a lot of pressure on them."

And the Americans did just that. In the fourth end, the Germans got one stone on the button in a nest of U.S. stones but couldn't get another one closer to score just one point.

Sachtjen got another good end set up by getting a stone buried behind a guard in the fifth that eventually led to two points. McCormick drew behind a guard with her first stone to put three in scoring position with Schoepp drawing in for second count. McCormick drew into the top four-foot for the deuce to go up 4-1 at the break.

The U.S. forced Schoepp to draw for one after McCormick made a double takeout with her first stone to cut the Germans down. The Americans went up 6-2 when McCormick made a draw to the four-foot for two in the eighth end.

Schoepp was looking at two red U.S. rocks as she threw her final stone in the ninth end to score one to cut the deficit to 6-3. The U.S. just had to avoid a big steal in the 10th end as they earned their fourth win of the week.

The U.S. has games tomorrow against the two top undefeated teams in the field. They'll tangle with China's Bingyu Wang at 1 p.m. ET and Canada's Jennifer Jones in the 6 p.m. match.

"As the week goes on, the games get tougher," McCormick said.

Game scores: USA 6, Germany 3; Denmark 7, Czech Republic 6; Canada 9, Italy 6; Switzerland 9, Japan 6

USA line score:
USA* 011 020 020 x 6
Germany 000 100 101 x 3
*last stone in first end

Standings:
Canada 4-0
China 4-0
USA 4-1
Switzerland 3-1
Denmark 3-2
Sweden 2-2
Japan 2-3
Germany 1-3
Russia 1-3
Scotland 1-3
Italy 1-4
Czech Republic 0-4

USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies and Nike.

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For more information: Terry Kolesar, USA Curling, terry.kolesar@usacurl.org, 715-344-1199, Ext. 202, or 608-338-9900 (cell).