VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Thomas Deruns and Romano Lemm scored in a shootout Tuesday, giving Switzerland a 3-2 win over Belarus and an Olympic quarterfinal date with the United States.
The Swiss had an unexpectedly tough battle, but goaltender Jonas Hiller came up with the key stops in the shootout. Hiller turned aside Sergei Kostitsyn in the third shootout round to clinch the victory, putting Switzerland into the quarterfinals against the Americans in a game that will begin at 3 p.m. EST Wednesday.
The United States enters the quarterfinals as the No. 1 seed, having finished off its unbeaten trek through group play with a surprising 5-3 decision over Canada.
Belarus shocked the Swiss with a goal in the first minute of play, that coming from Aleksei Kalyuzhny. Switzerland moved in front on scores by Julien Sprunger late in the first period and Hnat Domenichelli midway through the second.
Konstantin Zakharov then put in a rebound with 4:18 to go in the second to tie it and that is the way it stayed for the rest of regulation and through a10-minute overtime.
Switzerland outshot Belarus 43-22.
The United States played Switzerland in the first game of the men's tournament last week and came away with a 3-1 victory. The Swiss managed just 15 shots against the Americans in that contest.
