P: U.S. Curling Team, Once Called ‘Rejects,’ Beats Canada to Advance to Final - The New York Times

array( '1.head' => 'U.S. Curling Team, Once Called ‘Rejects,’ Beats Canada to Advance to Final - The New York Times', '2.body' => array( '1.div' => array( '1.button' => 'Sections', '2.div' => 'SEARCH', ), '2.main' => array( '1.div' => array( '1.span' => '|', '2.span' => 'U.S. Curling Team, Once Called ‘Rejects,’ Beats Canada to Advance to Final', ), '2.article' => array( '1.header' => array( '1.div' => 'Supported by', '2.h1' => 'U.S. Curling Team, Once Called ‘Rejects,’ Beats Canada to Advance to Final', '3.div' => array( '1.div' => 'Image', '2.figcaption' => array( '1.span' => 'Matt Hamilton, right, and John Shuster celebrated the United States’ victory over Canada in the curling semifinals.', '2.span' => array( '1.span' => 'Credit', '2.span' => array( '1.span' => 'Credit', '2.span' => 'Jeffrey Furticella/The New York Times', ), ), ), ), '4.div' => array( '1.div' => 'By', '2.ul' => 'Feb. 22, 2018', ), ), '2.section' => array( '1.div' => array( '1.p' => 'GANGNEUNG, South Korea — Four years after he was basically cut from the United States curling program, John Shuster began to celebrate with his teammates before his final rock of the match even came to a rest. The victory was as improbable as it was meaningful.', '2.p' => '“This team,” he said, “is by far the most resilient group of guys.”', '3.p' => 'The United States men’s curling team, on the brink of elimination for much of the 2018 Winter Olympics, withstood enormous pressure to defeat Canada, 5-3, on Thursday in a semifinal at Gangneung Curling Centre. Behind Shuster, the Americans advanced to face Sweden, the top-ranked team in the world, for gold in Saturday’s final.', '4.p' => '“I think it was heroic,” Shuster’s teammate Tyler George said. “The guys, one through four, just played the game of their lives when it mattered most. That’s what you dream about doing.”', ), '2.div' => array( '1.div' => 'Image', '2.figcaption' => array( '1.span' => 'Kevin Koe in Canada\'s semifinal against the United States.', '2.span' => array( '1.span' => 'Credit', '2.span' => 'Jeffrey Furticella/The New York Times', ), ), ), '3.div' => 'Shuster, George and their two teammates — John Landsteiner and Matt Hamilton — had a 2-4 record in pool play less than a week ago before reeling off three straight victories, including one against Canada, to secure a berth in the medal round. The United States had never defeated Canada in Olympic competition. They wound up doing it twice in four days.', '4.div' => array( '1.p' => '“I think it’s healthy to celebrate a little bit,” Hamilton said. “I might go back to the village and have a McFlurry.”', '2.p' => 'Shuster, a four-time Olympian who won a bronze in 2006, is making a habit of defying the odds. After he had a disastrous showing at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Shuster received an email that informed him that he had been dropped from the national high-performance program. In fairness, his play had been poor. He was overweight. His confidence seemed shot.', '3.p' => 'But rather than quit, Shuster lost 35 pounds and formed his own team — a team that became known in curling circles as The Rejects. On Saturday, those same rejects will vie for the gold medal.', '4.p' => '“You play a game like we did today, we’re cheating ourselves if we don’t go out and do it again Saturday,” George said.', ), '5.div' => array( '1.div' => 'Image', '2.figcaption' => array( '1.span' => 'From left, Canada’s Ben Hebert, Brent Laing and Marc Kennedy during their team’s loss to the United States. Canada, which had won the gold at the previous three Olympics, lost to the Americans for the second time in four days.', '2.span' => array( '1.span' => 'Credit', '2.span' => 'Jeffrey Furticella/The New York Times', ), ), ), '6.div' => 'Canada, meanwhile, finds itself in the thick of a national curling crisis. Its women’s team, which had been considered a favorite here, failed to advance to a medal round for the first time since curling became an Olympic sport in 1998. The men had won gold at the previous three Olympics. But the rest of the world seems to be catching up.', '7.div' => array( '1.p' => 'On Thursday, the Americans stole 2 points and took the lead for good when Canada’s Kevin Koe came up short on a crucial shot in the eighth end. It was a matter of inches, but that was all it took.', '2.p' => '“You’re not going to get any sour grapes from us,” Canada’s Brent Laing said. “We came here and played as well as we could this week, and it wasn’t enough.”', '3.p' => 'Canada will play Switzerland on Friday for the bronze.', '4.p' => 'Shuster said he and his teammates drew inspiration from watching the United States women’s hockey team defeat Canada in their gold medal game earlier in the day.', '5.p' => '“I think they just showed us that anything is possible,” he said.', ), ), '3.div' => array( 1 => 'A version of this article appears in print on', 2 => ', on Page', 3 => 'B', 4 => '13', 5 => 'of the New York edition', 6 => 'with the headline:', 7 => 'No Longer Untouchable: United States Topples Canada', '8.span' => array( 1 => '.', 2 => '|', 3 => '|', ), ), '4.div' => 'Related Coverage', '5.div' => 'Advertisement', ), ), ), )