Canada edges U.S. to stay unbeaten in women's curling

Sochi, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - Canada remained unbeaten in women's curling at the Sochi Olympics, improving to 8-0 with a close victory Sunday against the United States.

The unbeaten Canadians posted a 7-6 win over the U.S. on Sunday. Skip Jennifer Jones scored a single point on the final throw of the extra end to help Canada edge the Americans, who fell to 1-7. Both the U.S. men and women have been eliminated from medal contention in curling.

If Canada wins Monday against South Korea it would become the first women's team to go undefeated through round-robin play at the Olympics.

Prior to Sunday's win over the U.S., Canada's women already had earned a spot in the semifinals in Sochi. The Canadians are after their first Olympic gold since 1998. They lost to Sweden in the gold medal match four years ago in Vancouver, as the Swedes won their second straight Olympic title.

The Swedes joined Canada in Wednesday's semifinals after improving to 6-2 in the competition on Sunday. Sweden earned its place in the knockout stage thanks to a 5-4 victory over Russia and Japan's 9-7 win over Switzerland.

Denmark also recorded a 7-4 win over South Korea to improve to 3-5 in the women's tournament.

On the men's side, both Canada and Sweden were able to punch tickets to the semifinals on Sunday.

The Canadians won their fifth straight match, downing the U.S. by an 8-6 score to qualify for Wednesday's semifinals. Canada added a sixth consecutive victory in the late session, edging China 9-8 in the extra end.

Swedish men also won twice Sunday to improve to 8-1. They posted an 8-4 win over Russia in the morning and downed the U.S. by a 6-4 count in the late session.

Sweden and Canada have both completed their round-robin schedules and will head into the semifinal round as the top two seeds. China is currently in third place with a 6-2 record with Great Britain and Norway next with 5-3 marks.

Canada has won the last two gold medals in men's curling.

The U.S. is 2-6 and will play out the string when it finishes round-robin play Monday against Switzerland.