02/16/26 04:33:00
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02/16 16:32 CST The United States and Canada will meet for gold for the 7th
time in Olympic women's hockey
The United States and Canada will meet for gold for the 7th time in Olympic
women's hockey
By JOHN WAWROW
AP Hockey Writer
MILAN (AP) --- The United States and Canada will face off for Olympic gold for
a seventh time since women's hockey debuted at the 1998 Nagano Games in a
border rivalry that never gets old.
And this time, the Americans are the favorites at the Milan Cortina Games.
The U.S. clinched its berth with a 5-0 win over Sweden in semifinal play on
Monday. And the defending champion Canadians followed with Marie-Philip Poulin
scoring twice to set the Olympic career goal record in a too-close-for-comfort
2-1 victory over Switzerland.
The outcomes set up the latest showdown between the sport's global powers in
the gold medal final on Thursday.
And it could very well be the last meeting between the two teams' long-time
stars: Poulin, nicknamed "Captain Clutch," and U.S. captain Hilary Knight, who
has already announced these will be her fifth and final Olympics.
For the Americans, it didn't matter who they faced in a tournament they've
dominated by going 6-0 and outscoring their opponents by a combined margin of
31-1.
"We've played them quite a few times, so obviously, won't be surprised, but I
know they've got a game first too," defender Lee Stecklein said. "Whoever we
face, we've got to be ready for that challenge."
Goalie Aerin Frankel stopped 21 shots for her third shutout of the tournament,
and the Americans blew the game open with Abbey Murphy, Kendall Coyne Schofield
and Hayley Scamurra scoring on consecutive shots over a 2:47 span late in the
second period. Cayla Barnes opened the scoring and Taylor Heise also scored.
The U.S. has yet to trail or be tied after 0-0, and in position to become the
third women's team to do so over the entire tournament, joining Canada in 2006
and 2010. The Americans also extended their shutout streak to 331 minutes, 23
seconds, going back to Czechia's Barbora Jurickova beating Frankel on a
breakaway in the second period of a tournament-opening 5-1 win.
"I think we're looking incredible. The whole tournament we've really been
consistent," Scamurra said. "I don't even think we're at the peak, but I think
our peak is getting that gold medal in hand for sure."
The Canadians have had their struggles during a tournament Poulin missed two
games --- including the loss to the U.S. --- with a right knee injury before
returning for a 5-1 win over Germany in the quarterfinals.
Poulin opened the scoring 1:49 into the second period by skipping a shot from
between the circles that bounced and banked in off goalie Andrea Braendli's
stick. She made it 2-0 some 6-1/2 minutes later by converting a rebound after
Braendli stopped a shot from Daryl Watts.
Poulin now has 20 career goals in five Olympic appearances, and broke the
record of 18 held by former teammate and Hockey Hall of Famer Hayley
Wickenheiser.
Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped seven shots.
Rahel Enzler scored for Switzerland 4:53 into the third period. Braendli,
coming off a 40-save outing in a 1-0 quarterfinal win over Finland, finished
with 44 saves.
Now it's on to the gold medal game in a tournament the U.S. already beat Canada
5-0 in a preliminary round game last week. The Americans won Olympic gold in
1998 and 2018, with Canada winning the other five tournaments.
The U.S. has had the recent edge in the rivalry between the sport's two global
powers in having won seven straight dating to beating Canada twice at the world
championships in April.
"Nothing matters. It's the gold medal game," Heise said of a potential rematch
against Canada. "Obviously, I'm going to say we've done great and we've had
great success. You want to take that confidence and motivation, but you want to
move forward. We're going to look for us and we're going do what we need to do
on Thursday and hopefully come on top."
Sweden and Switzerland will play for bronze in a rematch of their meeting at
the 2014 Sochi Games. Switzerland won 4-3 to win its first and only women's
hockey medal.
The Swedes are seeking to win their third Olympic medal, and first since
winning silver at the 2006 Turin Games after upsetting the U.S. in the
semifinals.
"We're not done yet. We're going for the bronze now," Sweden forward Nicole
Hall said.
Ebba Svensson Traff stopped 19 of 23 shots before she was pulled after Coyne
Schofield tipped in Laila Edwards' shot from the blue line with 3:50 left in
the second period. Emma Soderberg took over, allowing a goal on 11 shots.
Though the Swedes kept the game close through 35 minutes, the Americans
eventually wore them down.
"Maybe today we needed a plexiglass in front of the net to stay in the game,"
coach Ulf Lundberg said, noting his team kept the U.S. mostly at bay with the
exception of the late second-period collapse. "I'm proud of the work ethic and
I'm proud of the way we could do the third period. So we have a lot of habits
to take with us to the bronze medal game."
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AP Olympic coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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