United States Mixed Curling Team Suffers Late Loss to Sweden, Settles for Silver

The United States' first mixed doubles curling gold medal will have to wait as Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse earned silver after a thrilling 6-5 loss Tuesday to Isabella and Rasmus Wranaa at the Milan Cortina Games.

The Americans held a 5-4 lead entering the eighth and final end, but the Swedes out-executed them when it mattered most to capture the decisive two points and a 6-5 win to hoist gold.

Dropkin and Thiesse had taken the lead in the seventh, capitalizing on their power-play advantage to pick up two go-ahead points before the Wranaa's late heroics.

Team USA opened the scoring with a single point in the first end and the Swedes answered back with two in the second before the Americans knotted things up after three. The two countries traded the lead back and forth until the very end.

"This week's been a dream," Dropkin told NBC after the loss. "We had an amazing week. We're on the podium, we're Olympic silver medalists. A lot to smile about. There's tears of joy and a little bit of sadness, but lots of joy."

Team USA went 6-3 in round-robin play and edged by Italy, 9-8, in the semifinals match to reach their first-ever gold medal match.

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