OGDEN -- Perhaps there's more to home-field advantage than thousands of fans screaming their support.
Shooting before several dozen spectators in the Archery World Cup at Weber State University, Team USA advanced to the gold medal round in three out of four events Friday.
Today's gold medal matches in the team compound category will pit the U.S. against Canada on both the men's and women's sides. Both teams held the number one ranking heading into Friday's elimination rounds.
The men had a bye until the semifinals, where they dropped the first set to Australia. But the three-man team of Reo Wilde, Braden Gellenthien and Jesse Broadwater rallied to take the next two sets, then tied the fourth set to earn a 5-3 victory in the hit-or-miss competition.
"I'm a little surprised they shot that well right off the bat, but we have a pretty tough team," said Wilde, of Pocatello, Idaho.
Canada defeated El Salvador 5-3 to set up today's showdown with the U.S. El Salvador went on to best Australia 7-5 to take the bronze medal.
On the women's side, the U.S. trio of Jamie Van Natta, Diane Watson and Erika Anschutz dominated New Zealand in straight sets, hitting 14 of 18 shots from 50 yards. The Canadian women topped Australia 5-3.
The Australian women went on to capture the bronze, winning a one-arrow shootout to break a 6-6 tie with rival New Zealand.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. men's recurve team of Brady Ellison, Vic Wunderle and Jake Kaminski beat Australia 218-212 and topped Italy 221-216 to reach today's final. They will face China, who captured a one-point victory over Korea to earn a chance at gold.
Korea then defeated Italy, also by one point, to take bronze.
The U.S. women's recurve team battled hard in the quarterfinals, but narrowly lost to Italy by a final score of 218-217. Korea will take on India in the women's recurve team finals.
Altogether, the U.S. will be represented in seven of today's 14 medal rounds, with five opportunities for gold.
Today's finals begin at 4 p.m. at Lindquist Field and are free and open to the public. The medal ceremony is slated for 9 p.m., followed by a closing ceremony and fireworks show. Free hot dogs and drinks will be offered to the first 1,000 who come through the gates.
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