Team USA Women’s Hockey dominates Finland, Freestyle Skiers show out in qualification, and Mixed Doubles Curling looks to bounce back | What You Missed
Team USA was active in the second day of action in Beijing. The American women dominated in their opening hockey match against Finland and both American men and women qualified for the Finals in Freestyle Moguls. Mixed Doubles curlers Chris Plys and Vicky Persinger dropped two games to Italy and Norway, but look to bounce back against Sweden later on Thursday.
Video Transcript
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- Good morning, America. Day two of action at the Beijing Games is almost in the books, and there was plenty of excitement to go around. Let's take you through what you might have missed. Team USA took to the sheet at Beijing's National Aquatic Center for day two of mixed doubles curling. After a win over Australia on day one, Chris Plys and Vicky Persinger fell to Italy 8-4 on Wednesday evening, and 11-6 to Norway on Thursday morning. The duo will look to get back in the win column when they take on Sweden later tonight.
Next, we head to the mountain where the men and women of Team USA look to qualify for the final in freestyle moguls. The women took to the course first, and Team USA put on a show. Three American women nabbed automatic qualification for the final by finishing in the top 10, the most of any nation. Jaelin Kauf finished third with a score of 79. Olivia Giaccio finished fourth with a 78. And Hannah Soar secured her spot in seventh with a 74.
Australia's Jakarta Anthony grabbed the top spot in qualification with a score of 83. While defending Olympic Champion Pierre L'Enfant of France came in second with an 81. Those women will all compete for a medal on Sunday morning in the freestyle moguls final.
As for the men, American Cole McDonald qualified for the final by finishing fifth with a score of 76. While Dylan Walczyk snuck in with a score of 75, good for 10th place. Their teammates Nick Page and Bradley Wilson will get a second chance of qualifying on Saturday. Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, the defending Olympic champion and 2021 World Champion, was the top finisher with a score of 81.
Finally, to the ice hockey rinks where women's preliminary round action got underway, the host nation China got off to a rocky start with a 3-1 loss to the Czech Republic. At the National Indoor Stadium, Team Canada showed they are not messing around with a dominant 12-1 win over Switzerland. Four different players scored two goals for the Canadians in the victory. In the day's third match-up, Team Japan use 2 third period goals to top Sweden 3 to 1.
Team USA took on Finland in the final match of the day in Beijing, and the defending champs picked up right where they left off in 2018 with a dominant 5-2 win. Kendall Coyne Schofield and Alex Carpenter each netted two goals in the victory. The American women will take on the Russian Olympic Committee in their next match on Saturday morning.
That's all we have for you today, but the Beijing 2022 Opening Ceremonies take place tomorrow morning. And from there, it's off to the races with hundreds of events every day. So strap on your seatbelts, refill that pot of coffee, and get ready for some riveting non-stop Olympic action for the next three weeks. And if you'd rather catch up on what happened when you wake up, we'll be there to help you get up to speed every morning.