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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 25, 2005
Johnson, Brown advance to finals at U.S.
Olympic Trials
(MADISON, Wis.) – The Cassie Johnson and Craig Brown
rinks will play one more game to eclipse their Olympic
dreams after advancing to the finals of the 2006 U.S.
Olympic Team Trials for Curling Friday night at the
Madison Curling Club.
Johnson (Bemidji, Minn.) and teammates Jamie Johnson
(Bemidji), Jessica Schultz (Duluth, Minn./Anchorage,
Alaska) and Maureen Brunt (Portage, Wis.) stole two
points in the fifth end to grab the momentum the team
needed to defeat the Patti Lank rink, 8-7, in an extra
end.
Team Lank, the 2004 national champions, fought its way
back into the game scoring two in the eighth to pull
within one at 6-5. The Johnson rink opted to play a hit
and stay for one in the ninth for a two-point lead going
into the 10th.
“We debated whether to roll out and blank the end or hit
and stay and we were really torn but we ended up staying
and knew we needed to keep it clean in the 10th,”
said Cassie Johnson, a graphic designer who began
curling at the age of 5 and won the world junior
championship in 2002.
Lank was able to get the deuce she needed to force an
extra end after Johnson’s attempted hit with her last
rock crashed on one of the top guards. Lank drew to the
four-foot for two.
“I thought it was good almost the whole way and we
didn’t have to call sweep and then it just took off. I
guess it must have picked,” Cassie Johnson said.
In the extra end, Team Johnson peeled off every guard
Team Lank put up. Johnson drew to the back of the
four-foot with her first shot and didn’t have to throw
her last one when Lank’s last stone hit the top guard on
an attempted hit on Johnson’s shot rock.
“We’ve been playing a good peel game all week and
Jessica (Schultz) has been making double peels left and
right,” Johnson said. “We were feeling a little bit more
comfortable going into the extra end and I felt like I
could draw if I needed to.”
Team Johnson will take on the Debbie McCormick rink
which defeated Johnson in the first semifinal earlier
today to advance to the semifinal.
“We didn’t feel like we were playing the way we had all
week in the earlier game,” Johnson said. “But tonight we
came out executing better.”
Brown (Madison, Wis.) and teammates Matt Stevens
(Bemidji, Minn.), John Dunlop (Wauwatosa, Wis.) and Bob
Liapis (Bemidji) took advantage of a few missed shots by
the Brady Clark rink in defeating them 7-6 to advance to
the final tomorrow against the Pete Fenson rink of
Bemidji.
“I felt like we were in control most of the first half
except when we gave them the two deuces,” Brown said.
The teams exchanged deuces to knot it up 4-4 after five
ends. Clark stole one in the sixth after Brown was wide
on a runback attempt. In the seventh, Clark made a soft
hit to sit four. Brown’s first rock overcurled and hit a
top guard so Clark put up another guard to protect his
shot rock. Brown threw a half-weight shot through a port
to tap back one of his rocks to the button for one.
“I’ve been getting most of the shots we need but we’re
not executing as well as we can,” said Brown, who won
the national championship in 2000. “He (Brady Clark)
played great just like he did in the first game against
us. Matt came through with a great triple in the 10th
that really opened things up for us.”
Clark allowed Brown to steal one in the eighth after he
was wide on a takeout attempt. The steal ended up being
the key as controlling the even ends of a 10-end match
often can be critical. Clark settled for one in the
ninth after Brown cleared the house out with his first
rock and stayed in for count. Clark hit Brown’s shot but
wasn’t able to keep his shooter in the house. Brown’s
draw went a little too deep leaving Clark with a routine
draw to the four-foot for one.
In the 10th, Brown only needed to draw a
piece of the four-foot for the win and executed with
ease.
The women’s final will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday
with the men’s game following at 2 p.m. Live action of
the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling can be
followed on the USA Curling web site at
www.usacurl.org, including via an audiocast and
end-by-end scoring.
USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics and
AmerAust Technologies as well as by General Motors,
Chevron-Texaco and Bank of America through a joint
marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Game scores: Johnson 8, Lank 7; Brown 7, Clark 6
Women’s Finalists:
Team McCormick: Debbie McCormick (Rio, Wis.),
Allison Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.), Ann Swisshelm
Silver (Chicago), Tracy Sachtjen (Lodi, Wis.)
Team Johnson: Cassie Johnson (Bemidji, Minn.),
Jamie Johnson (Bemidji), Jessica Schultz (Anchorage,
Alaska/Duluth, Minn.), Maureen Brunt (Portage, Wis.)
Men’s Finalists:
Team Fenson: Pete Fenson (Bemidji, Minn.), Shawn
Rojeski (Virginia, Minn.), Joe Polo (Cass Lake, Minn.),
John Shuster (Chisholm, Minn.)
Team Brown: Craig Brown (Madison, Wis.), Matt
Stevens (Bemidji, Minn.), John Dunlop (Wauwatosa, Wis.),
Bob Liapis (Bemidji), Cody Stevens (Bemidji)
(30)
For more information: Rick Patzke, USA Curling,
rickp@curlingrocks.net, 715-344-1199 |
