Press Coverage

Czechs put a stop to USA's win streak
April 3, 2013
The Czech Republic and Team USA staged "The Shootout at the BC Corral" tonight in a high-scoring matchup that put a screeching halt to USA's win streak at the 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship, presented by Booster Juice.

Brady Clark and the American men fell to Czech Republic's Jiri Snitil rink, 9-8, to drop to 4-5 in the standings with just two games remaining in the round robin at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.) and teammates Sean Beighton (Seattle), Philip Tilker (Seattle) and Darren Lehto (Seattle) finish out the round robin on Thursday with games against Russia (2-7) and Norway (5-4).

"I'm disappointed to lose, but what do you do? You come back tomorrow and come battle some more," said Clark, the 35-year-old senior business analyst for Liberty Mutual Insurance. "We've got important things to think about with these next few games. I know it's a battle and we have important Olympic points to be thinking about."

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
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USA picks up crucial round robin win
April 2, 2013
With their backs against the wall, Team USA grinded out a win over China this afternoon at the 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship, presented by Booster Juice.

The 10-8 victory over China's Rui Liu rink improves Brady Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.) and teammates Sean Beighton (Seattle), Philip Tilker (Seattle) and Darren Lehto (Seattle) to 2-4 in the round robin at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

Clark, who is the top skip in shooting percentage through Session 10, won the game with a draw to the button.

"I'd been playing a lot of draws this week and felt real good. The guys said light out of my hand and usually they're bang on, so about halfway I thought, we're OK here," Clark said. "The guys swept it perfect, maybe swept it a few inches too deep, but we got shot and won."

At 2-4, Team USA is still in the bottom half of the standings with five games remaining in the round robin.

"It's a big win for us. We really, really needed to step up and go out and get a win against a strong team," Clark said. "China's a great team. It was back and forth. It wasn't our strongest game ever, but we felt like we had a little bit better execution and took advantage of our opportunities."

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
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USA steals win over Scotland
April 2, 2013
Like a thief in the night, Team USA picked up its second straight win with a last rock steal over Scotland tonight at the 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship, presented by Booster Juice.

Brady Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.) and teammates Sean Beighton (Seattle), Philip Tilker (Seattle) and Darren Lehto (Seattle) set up the steal in the 10th end and defeated David Murdoch's Scottish rink, 8-6, at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre when Murdoch missed his final takeout.

"We had a couple tight games today and stole a win from Scotland. I thought they played really well, but we just happened to set up a really good end there," Clark said. "They just missed that one, but I'm happy to get a couple wins today. That's real big for us. We needed to do that to build our confidence and feel good."

Clark played his final stone of the game perfectly as he drew around USA's stone in the top of the rings and buried it in the four-foot. Murdoch attempted the takeout but just whiskered it, rolled his shooter out, and USA stole two points and, most importantly, it's third win of the round robin.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
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Sweden outlasts USA in round robin in Victoria
April 1, 2013
USA's leader barely missed a shot but Sweden outlasted the American men in an extra end this morning at the 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship, presented by Booster Juice.

Brady Clark and Team USA lost to Sweden's Niklas Edin, 7-6, in the 11-game round robin being played at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. The game was a bit of a roller coaster for Team USA with highs and lows.

"It was a well-played game, they made some big shots," said Clark, who shot 96 percent in the loss and is tied for first place as the top shooting skip in the tournament. "I felt like we put some pressure on them in at least a few areas, not great, but we certainly felt like there were a lot of shots made. It was disappointing for that not to show on the scoreboard."

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
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Canada sends USA to fourth loss
April 1, 2013
Team USA just can't catch a break. After five games at the 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship, presented by Booster Juice, Brady Clark and the Americans are 1-4 in the round robin at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

The undefeated Brad Jacobs rink from Canada sent the Americans to their fourth loss after a big sixth end propelled Canada to a 7-2 victory.

"They're just gonna shoot 85, 90 percent. There's really no sense the way they're playing. Regroup and come back for tomorrow. I don't know what else to say," Clark said about Team USA's early exit. "Some games you're on the right side of the scoreboard, and sometimes you're not. In that end, we just did not play. We missed one flash and they made every shot perfectly."

Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.) and teammates Sean Beighton (Seattle), Darren Lehto (Seattle) and Philip Tilker (Seattle) were trailing the Canadians by just a point when the second half of the game began. But things quickly unraveled in the sixth.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconm5.pdf

Japan edges American men, 7-6, at 2013 World Championship
March 31, 2013
The Easter Bunny dropped an egg on Team USA Sunday afternoon at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre as the Americans lost to Japan, 7-6, in the round robin of the 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship, presented by Booster Juice.

Brady Clark and the American men could not overcome first-end miscues to rally to defeat Japan's Yusuke Morozumi rink.

"We had a couple of misses in the first," said Beighton, who won the U.S. junior title in 2010. "They [Japan] made more shots than we did in the first end, and we couldn't quite get back in the game. They didn't miss much."

The loss drops Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.) and teammates Sean Beighton (Seattle), Darren Lehto (Seattle) and Philip Tilker (Seattle) to 1-1 in the standings. The team returns to the ice to take on Switzerland (1-1) at 7 tonight.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
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USA suffers second loss at 2013 World Men's Championship
March 31, 2013
Team USA put numbers in the wrong column on Sunday as the Americans fell to 1-2 with an 8-4 loss to Switzerland tonight at the 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship, presented by Booster Juice.

Brady Clark and the American men were a bit sluggish out of the gates tonight in contrast to Switzerland's Sven Michel rink. The win improves the Swiss to 2-1 in the 11-game round robin. "It was really important to have a good start so that we could put them under pressure, then he had some difficult shots which he could not make," Michel said. "I think the sixth end was a really big end. We were in a little bit of trouble earlier in that end, he takes some risk with his last shot and it meant that we could make that three - that was the key moment in that game."

Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.) and teammates Sean Beighton (Seattle), Darren Lehto (Seattle) and Philip Tilker (Seattle) struggled to put points on the scoreboard tonight.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
application/pdf iconm3.pdf

USA men start 2013 World Championship in win column in Victoria
March 30, 2013
USA's Brady Clark rink looked nothing like rookies at the 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship, presented by Booster Juice, opening the tournament with a decisive win over Denmark.

Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.) and teammates Sean Beighton (Seattle), Darren Lehto (Seattle) and Philip Tilker (Seattle) made their debut at the Men's Worlds with an 8-5 win tonight over Rasmus Stjerne's team at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

"We got a strong start in that game, and we came out shooting pretty well and carried some momentum. We made a few key shots and got the win so we're real happy to start off the week with a 'W,'" said Clark, 35, who works as a senior business analyst with Liberty Mutual Insurance.

Team USA shot 86 percent in earning the win. Stjerne, 24, who won the 2009 World Junior Championships, struggled with his draw weight in the first half of the game and the Americans pounced on their opportunities.

"We came out and all felt comfortable. When you walk out there and you have a bunch of people cheering, you get a little bit of adrenaline going. But, we came out and played our game. Denmark's a great team, and we got a few breaks here and there and got the win," Clark said.

To read the complete press release, click on the PDF below.

USA Curling
Terry Kolesar
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