"We'd like to win a medal," Birr said. "Honestly, we haven't had that much time to think about it. It sure would be nice."

Birr (Mankato, Minn.) and teammates Bill Todhunter (Menasha, Wis.), Greg Johnson (Appleton, Wis.) and Kevin Birr (St. Peter, Minn.) arrived tired this morning coming off a big win over Canada last night in a game that ended close to 11 p.m. MT. The Americans had a closer game than they had hoped for with the 1 p.m. round robin finale against Sweden at their heels for the Americans third game in a row. "It is ugly," Birr said of the schedule after admitting to only having four hours of sleep. "We were pumped up after the win last night. We really played well and people kept telling us that so it's hard not to think 'Hey, maybe we are pretty good.'"

While the U.S. is currently sitting alone in second place, there's still a possibility that several teams could end up with matching records at the conclusion of the round robin. Switzerland (6-4), France (6-4), Germany (6-4), Sweden (5-4) and Finland (5-4) are still in the running as the race for the three final playoff spots tightens.

A win over Sweden would place the Americans in the 1-2 Page Playoff game along with Canada, who clinched a berth yesterday. "If we win, we're in pretty good shape. If we don't, we're in a mess," Birr said of the upcoming game.

But the U.S. men had their work cut out for them this morning as Korea (1-9) came in with fresh legs.

The Americans got in trouble early giving Lee a chance to make a raise for possibly five points with his last throw but Lee just missed removing the U.S. shot rock giving up a steal of one to open up the game. "It was a grinder kind of game," Birr said. "We got out of a jam in the first. We didn't play poorly earlier in the game. We were irritated with each other in that first end but then settled in."

Lee missed a wide open takeout in the second end to give up another steal as he tried to blank the end. The Koreans were forced to make a hit for just one point in the third end after the U.S. got a stone frozen to a Korean rock in the back of the house.

After blanking two ends, the U.S. men finally got something going in the sixth end after Johnson got a stone hidden behind the center guard. Korea just missed the raise to remove it allowing Todhunter to draw in a third stone. Birr was eventually able to draw full eight-foot for two. Korea answered with a deuce of their own in the seventh end when the Americans were forced to use a shot to peel a corner guard. This allowed Korea to stick another stone in the house with the teams exchanging hits.

Korea second Se-Young Yang made a hit and rolled behind the center guard in the eighth end. Johnson came down just missing the Korean stone and jammed the U.S. rock in the back of the eight-foot. Korea fully covered the shot stone by putting a rock in the top 12 foot. Todhunter finally got that shot stone out to set up the deuce. Birr drew full four foot for two to take a 6-3 lead into the ninth end.

Korean vice skip Jong-Chul Beak stuck a stone behind the corner guard to set up a potential deuce in the ninth end. Birr removed a stone off to the side of the house in the 12-foot to keep Korea a stone ahead to score two.

In the 10th, Korea worked diligently to keep guards up to hide their stone in the eight foot but the Americans peeled and peeled. Todhunter made a double peel and got a lucky roll for first count with his last rock. After Lee put up a center guard, Birr elected to chip out the Korean stone in second position and didn't have to throw his last stone as Lee came up short trying to draw in closer to the pin.

Live and on-demand video streaming from the Men's World Curling Championship is available through a partnership between USA Curling, the World Curling Federation, NBCSports.com and MediaZone. More details can be found at www.usacurl.org.

College Sports TV (CSTV) will air highlights from the Women's Worlds on April 19 at 9 p.m. ET and from the Men's Worlds on April 26 at 9 p.m. ET.
Game scores: USA 7, Korea 5; France 10, Switzerland 6; Germany 7, Norway 5; Scotland 7, Australia 5

USA line score:
USA 110 002 020 1 7
*KOR 001 000 202 0 5
*designates last-rock advantage in first end

Round robin standings
*Canada 8-1
USA 7-3
France 6-4
Germany 6-4
Switzerland 6-4
Finland 5-4
Sweden 5-4
Australia 4-6
Norway 4-6
Scotland 4-6
Denmark 2-7
Korea 1-9
*clinched berth in 1-2 Page Playoff game

USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies and Nike as well as by AT&T, General Motors, The Home Depot, and Bank of America through a joint marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

For more information: Terry Luder, USA Curling, terry.luder@usacurl.org, 608-338-9900 (cell).