Team USA women’s curling entered Thursday with a simple task: Win, and you’re in. With a victory over Switzerland, the United States would guarantee itself a spot in the playoffs.

There were a few other ways things could work out for the Americans, but they didn’t have to worry about those. Team USA secured their spot in the playoffs with a narrow 7-6 win over Switzerland that came down to a clutch hammer from Tabitha Peterson in an extra end. 

Team USA opened the match with the hammer, and after an uneventful first end, decided to strategically clear the house so they could keep the hammer in the second end. No points were scored until the second end, when Peterson used the U.S.’s hammer to grab the first point of the game. Peterson didn’t have a large margin for error with her shot, and managed to land the stone almost directly on the button, grabbing a point and an early 1-0 lead for Team USA.

Switzerland used its first hammer in the third end to tie things up. They had a shot at two points in the end, but the hammer wasn’t thrown hard enough, and failed to knock Team USA’s stone far enough outside the house to net Switzerland two points. The Americans grabbed the lead back in the fourth end, as Peterson once again landed the hammer on the button to go up 2-1.

The fifth end proved to be massive for Team USA. After placing a stone close to the button, the Americans decided to play defense, making it harder for Switzerland to score with the hammer. The tactic worked out, as Switzerland’s hammer made contact with one of Team USA’s defensively-placed stones. That stopped the momentum of Switzerland’s hammer, allowing Team USA to steal a point in the end. That pushed Team USA’s lead to 3-1 after the fifth end. 

Thanks to more strong defense, Team USA limited Switzerland to a point in the sixth end. Leading 3-2, and holding the hammer, Team USA needed multiple points in the seventh end to gain some breathing room. They made that happen, as Peterson’s hammer netted the U.S. two more points, giving them a 5-2 lead entering the eighth end.

Switzerland needed multiple points in the eighth end, but had to settle for just one. That made it 5-3, with the U.S. controlling the hammer in the ninth end. If Team USA could score multiple points in the end, they would hold a massive lead heading into the final end. It looked shaky with three U.S. stones left, but Peterson cleared out Switzerland’s stone on the second-to-last stone for Team USA. A strong shot by Switzerland’s Alina Paetz limited the U.S. to settling for just one point in the end, giving them a 6-3 lead heading into the 10th end.

Switzerland refused to go down quietly. Paetz executed on the hammer, grabbing three points to tie the match 6-6, sending it to an extra end. 

While the momentum seemed to be slipping away from Team USA, it held the hammer in the extra end, a massive advantage. 

But the letdown in the 10th may have extended to the extra end for the Americans early on. Some missed shots made it stressful with just three stones to go. Team USA still had an opening as the match wound down, but it wasn’t going to be easy. 

It all came down to the final stone. Peterson needed to navigate around three Switzerland stones to secure the victory for Team USA. She came up extremely clutch with her shot, getting it just around Switzerland’s stones, but not pushing it too far outside the house. It was a close finish, nearly coming down to a measurement. Ultimately, that wasn’t needed, and the U.S. picked up the narrowest of wins.

This story will be updated.