KELOWNA, B.C. — The U.S. curling team led by Cassie Johnson upset Sweden's Matilda Mattsson Saturday night to win the 2002 World Junior Curling Championship — the first ever by a U.S. women's team.
Johnson (Bemidji, Minn.), her sister, Jamie Johnson (Bemidji), Katie Beck (St. Paul, Minn.), Maureen Brunt (Portage, Wis.) and alternate Courtney George (Duluth, Minn.) won the gold medal game 7-6, rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the early going and then controlling the game from there.
"I'm just stunned right now," said Cassie Johnson, 20, following the victory. "It really hasn't hit me yet."
"This is unbelievable," said her 21-year-old sister, Jamie, who noted that this particular team has only been together for a year. The U.S. women were also playing in their first World Junior Championship, compared to a fifth appearance by Mattsson's team. The Swedes won the gold in 2000 and finished second in 2001.
Going into the game, the Americans said they were not intimidated by the Swedes' impressive championship record to date. "We weren't really afraid of them at all," said Jamie.
It has been an especially long season for the Johnson sisters, students at Bemidji State University. They and two other teammates finished third in the 2002 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in December and made it to the semifinals of the 2002 U.S. Women's Nationals just three weeks ago.
USA last won a medal, the bronze, in the World Junior Women's Championships in 2000. The USA had not won a gold medal since the inception of the World Junior Women's Championship in 1988 but took the silver twice, in 1994 and '92.