For the first time since 1998, in Women’s hockey, the USA beats Canada 3-2 in a shootout to win an Olympic gold medal. Since 1998 the USA has had three silver medals and one bronze medal. This gold is a major achievement for Team USA, as they have also won seven of the last eight of the IIHF World Women’s Championships. Despite this, they could not seem to beat Canada for gold at the Olympics. Until now.
The game ended in dramatic fashion, with the Americans forcing a shootout by killing a penalty over the final 1:35 of overtime.
Jocelyn Lamoureux scored the winner in the shootout, while Maddie Rooney stopped Meghan Agosta on the final shot to clinch the victory.
Women Capture Glory, USA Beats Canada
It was a fast-paced intense game that ended the right way for the USA. The game felt eerily similar to the first time these teams met this tournament. The round-robin game was dominated by the Americans. The Canadians managed to squeak out a 2-1 win, despite being outshot 45-23. The first period of this game was dominated by the Americans, who got three power plays in the first period by getting under the skin of the Canadians. The first two power plays resulted in nothing but at 19:34 of the first period, Hilary Knight tipped in a perfectly placed shot from the point by Sidney Morin to put the Americans up 1-0 heading into the intermission.
The second period started much different. Canada came out energized, and just two minutes into the period Hayley Irwin tipped in a pass from Blayre Turnbull. This was followed up five minutes later by a goal from Marie-Phillip Poulin. This didn’t get the Americans down however, they followed this up with some amazing shifts from twins Jocelyne Lamoureux and Monique Lamoureux. These shifts full of chances and digging away at Canada motivated the rest of the American team. The rest of the period was a hard fight between both teams. Seeing each team get chances at even strength and on the power play. The goalies stood strong, however.
The third period was where the Americans once again found their game. Three minutes into the third, Maddie Rooney made a few amazing saves, including a cross-crease, save. Bringing the puck back the other way Brianna Decker was checked hard by Poulin, with no penalty being called. This infuriated the USA and from there on it was an all-out attack on Shannon Szabados, the Candian netminder. Monique Lamoureux tied the game with six minutes left in the third period.
Past History
This win is even bigger than normal for team USA. The USA Women’s hockey team seemed cursed when it comes to the Olympics. In Sochi 2014 they had the lead, and in the final minutes of play, Canada pulled their goalie. The Americans sent the puck down the net but hit the post. Canada would come back to tie, and then win the game in overtime. Prior to that, the Americans had lost to Canada in the gold medal game 3-2 in 2002. They were then upset in the semi’s by Sweden in 2006 and settled for bronze. Finally, in 2010 they were beaten by Canada 2-0. All of these close and crushing defeats that have haunted the Americans for years. They have finally got retribution.
As mentioned earlier, winning in Women’s Championships has not been a problem for the USA. They have won seven of the last eight gold medals, beating Canada each time. The Olympics and gold medal games however just seemed to be different. Now the USA is standing tall in the hockey world, the Women’s team proving they are indeed the best in the world.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
