Denmark's Kenneth Oerbaek rink claimed a 6-4 win without having to throw its last stone when USA's final shot at victory ran head on into a granite guard. The Americans couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to hide the winning point than when Denmark's second-to-last shot settled into the open eight-foot. USA skip Wes Smith (Glenburn, Maine) and vice skip Augusto "Goose" Perez (East Syracuse, N.Y.) set up for the hit-and-roll, aiming to take out the Danish stone and flop their own into the open four-foot buried behind guards for what could easily have been the victorious point.

While teammates Jim Pierce (North Syracuse, N.Y.), Danell Libby (Chatham, N.Y.) and alternate Jimmy Joseph (New Hartford, N.Y.) looked on, however, the last shot curled into a wall of granite and victory went to Denmark.

"We should have won this one," said Smith. "The opportunity was there. I was a hair narrow and a hair light for this ice, which was pretty squirrelly."

USA fell to 1-3 in the standings, while Denmark improved to 2-2 and moved into a tie with three others for third place. Canada handed Norway its first loss tonight, leaving those two teams tied at the top at 3-1.

USA stole two points in the first end when Oerbaek's try at raising a stone into first count over-curled and went all the way through the rings to the back of the house.

With several stones littering the guard zone in the second end, both teams were again forced to play raises and angle hits. Smith nearly got first count with a raise on his first shot, coming up about six inches short. He had essentially the same shot with his team's last rock, or even possibly a raise takeout to sit three. But USA chose to play a hit and roll on Denmark's second count stone instead. Smith removed the offending stone but his own stone rolled out as well. Oerbaek tried a tough draw for two but couldn't pull it off and the Danes counted one to make it a 2-1 game.

Denmark took advantage of a couple of USA miscues in the third end, including a hogged stone, to set up a steal of two. Smith was left with a tricky hit-and-roll off an outside Danish stone, but his shot missed entirely and Denmark took a 3-2 lead into the break.

Joseph unleashed a nice draw in the fourth end to leave USA sitting three. Denmark vice skip Sussie Pedersen moved all three stones around, though, taking out one and rolling her own behind a guard. Smith tried a clearing shot with his first stone, but didn't get the desired result. After Denmark put up another guard, Wes again faced an angle raise takeout as his only hope for scoring. His throw was heavy enough but wide, and the Danes stole another point for a 4-2 advantage.

Denmark worked to keep the ice free of granite in the fifth end, trying to deny USA an opportunity to score more than one. But the Danes had a couple of shots go awry in this end, and USA wound up with an open draw for two to tie the game, 4-4.

In the sixth, USA lead Danell Libby perfectly placed two center guards to set up the steal scenario. But the team couldn't get a draw to stick in the house in the early going, missing out on a couple of great opportunities to set up the steal. Denmark finally got its fourth stone to stick in the back 12-foot. Smith tried to draw his first shot through a narrow port, but came up light and narrow. Oerbaek's first shot raised a second counter in, but it was left in the open for USA to play the hit-and-roll, which, unfortunately for the Americans didn't materialize.

"We were playing fine until that last end," said Perez. "Then I didn't know if the ice was ice or gravel in some spots." Both he and Smith commented on tricky spots where the stones would curl widely on one line but not at all a few inches over, or where stones would glide through the house in one spot, but grind to a halt with seemingly the same weight on another line.

"We had a good chance to win with that last shot, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be," said Perez. "It's a tough loss, but we'll get over it."

"It was a challenging game," added Joseph. "We'll hold our heads high and play our best tomorrow."

Elsewhere tonight, the Swiss laid six in the first end against Italy and went on to a 14-0 win. Great Britain easily handled Sweden, building a 6-0 lead enroute to a 7-2 victory. Canada and Norway had a seesaw battle going, with Canada scoring three in the first end, then falling behind 5-3 after the third. This game was tied 6-6 playing the final end. The Canadians had last-rock advantage and put it to good use, scoring one for the 7-6 win.

USA has another two games on the schedule Tuesday, meeting Canada at 11 a.m. and the Italians at 4 p.m. The round robin concludes with an 11 a.m. draw on Wednesday. Tiebreakers will be held as needed Wednesday and Thursday, with the four semifinalists meeting in playoffs at 11 a.m. Friday.

Standings

Canada 3-1
Norway 3-1
Denmark 2-2
Great Britain 2-2
Sweden 2-2
Switzerland 2-2
Italy 1-3
USA 1-3