FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb. 16, 2016

Team USA to play for gold at Winter Youth Olympic Games

(STEVENS POINT, Wis.) – Luc Violette and his American teammates are going for gold after winning their semifinal match today at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

Violette (Lake Stevens, Wash.) and teammates Cora Farrell (Fairbanks, Alaska), Ben Richardson (Issaquah, Wash.), and Cait Flannery (Mankato, Minn.) got past Russia’s German Doronin rink, 8-6, at the Lillehammer Curling Hall to advance to tomorrow’s gold-medal game against Canada. The game will take place at 9 a.m. local time (2 a.m. CT) on Wednesday.

“I feel amazing. The game was all over the place. Big shots by both teams; big misses by both teams, but we made big shots when it counted and that’s what it was,” said Violette. “There were so many turning points – every end, every shot, almost. It was back and forth, back and forth. I know I had a horrible miss in the first end, but then I made two pistols to get the deuce right back, and we had a huge steal of three in the third. But then I made a horrible shot and gave them three right back. We played really well as a team. The final will be a really good game, and I cannot wait.”

Team USA gave up an early steal to give Russia the advantage at 2-0 but answered with a deuce in the second end to even the score. The Americans then stole three points only to have Russia answer by scoring three in the fourth end to once again tie the game. The U.S. took two points in the sixth end and further put the game in control with a single steal in the seventh end to leave the Russians chasing as the number of rocks remaining dwindled.

The U.S. team (8-1) will have to battle unbeaten Canada (9-0), which defeated Switzerland, 7-5, to advance to the championship final against the Americans.

The winter edition of the Youth Olympic Games debuted in 2012. This will be the first time the U.S. is competing for the gold medal after a fifth-place finish four years ago. After the team competition concludes tomorrow, all competing athletes will be paired with a curler from another country for mixed doubles – and another shot at medals. In addition, a day of cultural learning is on tap for the athletes. The U.S. won a bronze medal in mixed doubles in 2012, marking the first medal won at this event.

Coverage of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games can be found at TeamUSA.org/Lillehammer2016 and via the World Curling Federation website at http://www.worldcurling.org/yog2016/livescores.

NBC is broadcasting a daily, hour-long highlight show of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games from Feb. 12-21. Below is the schedule for each day's show, which can be viewed on NBC Sports Network as well as the NBC Live Extra app.

Date Time Tuesday, Feb. 16 11:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, Feb. 17 11:30 p.m. ET Friday, Feb. 19 12 a.m. ET Saturday, Feb. 20 12:30 a.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 21 1 a.m. ET Monday, Feb. 22 2 a.m. ET

USA line score, semifinal:

*USA 023 002 10 – 8

Russia 200 300 01 – 6

*last rock in first end

USA Curling is sponsored by AtomOS, Nike, Brooms Up Curling Supplies, CryoMAX, Sitrin, and The RAM Restaurant & Brewery, BalancePlus, Skills.com, and is partnered with Laurie Artiss Ltd. – The Pin People, Hilton HHonors, United Airlines, RJM Licensing Inc., and CurlingZone.

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For more information: Terry Davis, Director of Communications, terry.davis@usacurl.org, 608-338-9900 (mobile) or 715-344-1199, Ext. 202 (office).