At the 2026 Winter Olympics men’s curling competition in Cortina, Canada delivered a steady and clinical performance Friday morning, defeating the United States 6–3 in round-robin play.
The U.S. squad, skipped by Danny Casper, struggled to generate multi-point ends throughout the contest, scoring in just three ends and managing only single points each time. The loss drops Team USA to 1–2 in Olympic competition.
The match began evenly, with the teams tied 1–1 through the first two ends before a blank third set up the first pivotal moment of the game. In the fourth end, Casper executed a precise draw to the button with his final stone, briefly putting pressure on Canada. But Canadian skip Brad Jacobs responded with a world-class counter, curling a shot around guards to remove the lone American stone and score two, giving Canada a 4–2 advantage.
The Americans had an opportunity to swing momentum back in the following end but couldn’t capitalize. Casper’s second-to-last draw attempt slid through the house, erasing a chance at a multi-point end and forcing the U.S. to settle for a single point.
Canada continued to control the pace from there. The Canadians added one point in the sixth end, then delivered the decisive blow in the eighth. Casper attempted a runback with his first stone to remove two Canadian rocks from the four-foot but missed, leaving Jacobs an opening to draw to the button. On the hammer, Casper needed a double takeout to recover, but his peel attempt failed to curl, resulting in a Canadian steal of two and a commanding 6–2 lead.
Team USA managed just one point in the ninth end and conceded the 10th.
Statistically, Canada’s precision proved decisive. The Canadians shot 95 percent on takeout attempts and recorded 37 takeouts compared to 32 for the United States. Jacobs finished with an impressive 92 percent shooting performance, while Casper shot 76 percent.
Despite the setback, the Americans still have time to recover in the round-robin standings. Team USA will have the afternoon session off before returning to the ice Saturday morning to face Germany at 8:05 a.m. ET.
If you’d like, I can preview the USA–Germany matchup and what the Americans need to do to stay in medal contention.
