U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team Blanks Finland, 6-0, in Final Olympic Winter Games Preliminary-Round Game
VANCOUVER, B.C. – The U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team scored three first-period goals in less than four minutes en route to a 6-0 victory against Finland here this afternoon in its third and final preliminary-round game of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Team USA will face Sweden in the semifinal round Monday (Feb. 22) at 12 p.m. PST.
Natalie Darwitz (Eagan, Minn.) set a U.S. record for points in a single Olympic Winter Games, scoring once and adding two assists to boost her tournament point total to 11 (4-7). Meanwhile, Jessie Vetter (Cottage Grove, Wis.) logged her second consecutive shutout, turning aside 23 shots in the win.
“It was a very competitive game,” said Mark Johnson, head coach of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team. “We were able to gain some momentum early on after Finland came out hard and tested Jessie Vetter in several situations. It was a good game for us and will definitely help us in preparing to face Sweden in the semifinals on Monday.”
Julie Chu (Fairfield, Conn.) got Team USA on the board eight minutes into the opening frame with a redirection off of an Angela Ruggiero (Simi Valley, Calif.) slap shot that slipped between the pads of Finnish goalie Noora Raty. The U.S. doubled its lead midway through the period on the power play when Molly Engstrom‘s (Siren, Wis.) slap shot hit a Finland defender in front of the net and trickled into the goal.
Team USA notched its third goal in as many shots less than a minute later. Meghan Duggan (Danvers, Mass.) received the puck in the slot with her back to the net and sent a backhand shot low past the right pad of Raty. Darwitz closed out the first period scoring with a redirection of an Engstrom slap shot to give the U.S. a 4-0 advantage.
Hilary Knight (Hanover, N.H.) notched her first Olympic goal midway through the second period, taking a cross-ice feed from Darwitz and firing the puck over Raty’s glove to extend Team USA’s lead to 5-0.
The U.S. defense held strong in the third period, killing a lengthy two-man disadvantage early in the frame. Vetter kept Finland off the board 15 minutes into the third when she turned aside a penalty-shot attempt by Finland’s Anne Helin, the first-ever penalty shot in Olympic Winter Games women’s ice hockey history.
Karen Thatcher (Blaine, Wash.) knocked in her second goal of the tournament with less than two minutes to play to seal Team USA’s victory.
The U.S. will face Sweden in the semifinal round for the second straight Olympic Winter Games. The winner will play in next Thursday’s (Feb. 25) gold-medal game, while the loser will skate for the bronze. A full schedule is listed below.
NOTES: Jessie Vetter tied a U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team (Sara DeCosta, 2002) and all-time Olympic record with her second shutout in a single Olympic Winter Games … Natalie Darwitz surpassed the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team single-tournament points record set by Cammi Granato (6-4–10) in 2002 … Canada and Finland will face off in the other semifinal match-up on Monday at 5 p.m. PST … Team USA went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Finland was 0-for-6 … The U.S. roster, including player bios, can be found here. Additional coverage of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team can be found at USAHockey.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter … Mark Johnson, head women’s ice hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin, is Team USA’s head coach, with Dave Flint, head women’s ice hockey coach at Northeastern University, and Jodi McKenna, head women’s ice hockey coach at Wesleyan University, serving as assistant coaches.