Aerin Frankel stopped 21 pictures for her third shutout of the Olympic girls’s hockey match and the favored United States superior to the gold-medal sport by defeating Sweden 5-0 on the Milan Cortina Games on Monday.
Abbey Murphy, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hayley Scamurra scored on consecutive pictures over a 2:47 late within the second interval to blow the sport open and put the People up 5-0. Cayla Barnes opened the scoring and Taylor Heise additionally scored.
The People continued their roll by means of the match by enhancing to 6-0, and outscoring their opponents by a mixed 31-1. The U.S. has but to path or be tied after 0-0, and is able to grow to be the third girls’s crew to take action over the complete match, becoming a member of Canada in 2006 and 2010.
The U.S. additionally prolonged its shutout streak to 331 minutes, 23 seconds, going again to Czechia’s Barbora Jurickova beating Frankel on a breakaway within the second interval of a tournament-opening 5-1 win.
Monday’s match confirmed the U.S. dominance but additionally the crew’s physicality, with a number of scuffles breaking out on the ice.
The People’ shutout victory over Sweden, coupled with Canada’s win later within the day over Switzerland within the different semifinal sport, arrange what can be a seventh gold-medal showdown towards Canada on Thursday.
Mattia Martegani/NurPhoto by way of Getty Pictures
The U.S. already beat Canada 5-0 in a preliminary round game final week. The People gained Olympic gold in 1998 and 2018, with Canada successful the opposite 5 tournaments.
Each Olympic gold medal match in girls’s hockey, besides one, has been U.S. versus Canada.
That is Coyne Schofield’s fourth journey to the Olympics. She beforehand took dwelling a gold and two silvers. That is Captain Hilary Knight’s fifth journey to the Olympics. She’s medaled 4 occasions, taking dwelling a gold and three silvers.
Knight, throughout a preliminary spherical sport towards Canada on Feb. 10, tied the all-time U.S. girls’s hockey file for many Olympic factors. The 5-0 sport was the most important margin of victory ever within the U.S.-Canada Olympic hockey rivalry, in keeping with Group USA.
Sweden will play for bronze on Thursday in an effort to medal for the third time in crew historical past, and first since successful silver on the 2006 Turin Video games after upsetting the U.S. within the semifinals.
Ebba Svensson Traff stopped 19 of 23 pictures earlier than she was pulled after Coyne Schofield tipped in Laila Edwards’ shot from the blue line with 3:50 left within the second interval.
Emma Soderberg took over in purpose and was crushed by Scamurra, who tapped in Britta Curl-Salemme’s centering go 1:49 later. Soderberg completed with 10 saves.
Amongst these in attendance was former NFL heart Jason Kelce, who was proven on the scoreboard applauding the purpose initially credited to Edwards. Kelce is from Edwards’ hometown of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and he and his brother, Kansas Metropolis Chiefs tight finish Travis Kelce, contributed to a GoFundMe drive to assist pay for Edwards’ household to attend the Milan Cortina Video games.
Sweden loved a breakthrough this yr with a younger, gifted group that options seven gamers competing within the U.S. faculty ranks. Sweden went 4-0 to win Group B, after which upset Czechia 2-0 within the quarterfinals.
Although the Swedes stored the sport shut by means of 35 minutes, the People finally wore them down.
And the uscertainly did not resemble a crew that did not need to play Sweden, as coach Ulf Lundberg suggested after the Swedes beat Czechia within the quarterfinals.
Although the Swedes stored the U.S. principally to the perimeter within the opening interval, they have been nonetheless outshot 13-2.
Barnes scored with a snap shot from the highest of the suitable circle and beat Svensson Traff excessive on the brief aspect. Barnes’ purpose was her first level of the match, leaving seventh defender Rory Guilday because the lone American skater to not but register a degree by means of six video games.
Heise made it 2-0 on the 9:08 mark of the second interval by one-timing in Hannah Bilka’s backhand go by means of the center. Svensson Traff acquired her glove on the shot, however the puck deflected throughout her physique and into the online off the within of her stick.
