american women

The Italian upstarts didn’t make it easy for the Americans, and that’s all veteran forward Kelly Pannek could have asked for as United States, first classified She continued her journey through the Olympic women’s hockey tournament.

A festive atmosphere, a determined opponent, a little humor and a 6-0 victory in which 13 players, led by Kendall Coyne Schofield’s two goals, scored at least one point.

“It seems like we’re now finding different ways within our identity to do work,” Pannek said. “And it takes every person on the ice on our team and our staff to do that. And it feels like we’re still building what we can really be.”

After a first period in which the Americans outshot Italy 20-2, but only led 1-0 on Megan Keller’s goal, the United States finally broke through with a five-goal second period.

Laila Edwards, Hannah Bilka and Britta Curl-Salemme also scored. Gwyneth Philips finished with six saves as the Americans recorded their fourth consecutive shutout.

The United States, winner of Group A, has outscored its opponents by a combined 26-1 in winning all five games, with the only goal allowed coming in the tournament’s opening 5-1 victory over Czechia.

With Coyne Schofield, Lee Stecklein and Grace Zumwinkle scoring on Friday, the United States has just two skaters (defenders Cayla Barnes and Rory Guilday) without a point.

“I thought the other day that everyone is willing to do whatever it takes to be a part of this team’s success,” Coyne Schofield said. “And whatever role we’re asked to play on any given night, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Now two wins away from winning its third Olympic gold medal, the United States advanced to the semifinals on Monday. The Americans will play either Sweden, after the Group B winner defeated Czechia 2-0 earlier in the day, or Germany, should the seventh-seeded team defeat Canada in their quarterfinals on Saturday.

Finland faces Switzerland in the other quarterfinal on Saturday.

Friday’s game featured mourning chants, with each chorus of “USA! USA! USA!” was met with an “EEE-TA-LIA!”

Italy had little chance of making its second Olympic appearance, each time as the host team. Advancing to the knockout round was considered an achievement for the Italians, who finished 2-2 in the preliminary round, and after finishing 0-4 at the 2006 Turin Games.

Goalie Gabriella Durante stole the show, stopping 19 of 20 shots during the first period and 45 overall.

“There’s definitely obviously sadness and disappointment, but at the same time, I don’t think the team has any regrets about how hard we played,” said Durante, who noted that the team watched the movie “Miracle,” about the U.S. men’s race in the 1980 Olympics, for motivation the night before.

“We were believing from the beginning. And obviously in the second he escaped us a little, but at the same time as if he were the best in the world,” he added. “I’ll remember it for the rest of my life, the crowd specifically, the atmosphere.”

Things also got heated after a fight after Bilka scored to put the United States up 6-0 late in the second period. As Abbey Murphy and Italy’s Franziska Stocker were sent off on penalties, American coach John Wroblewski began yelling at Italian coach Eric Bouchard from the bench.

Wroblewski said he was unhappy with decisions that appeared to favor the Italians, because Murphy intervened after Bilka was checked from behind.

“I think his team was frustrated,” Bouchard said. “They’re the best hockey team in the world and they found a way to take advantage of their opportunities. But in the third period, the girls never gave up.”

Sweden defeats Czechia 2-0

Coach Ulf Lundberg declared that “the time has come” for Sweden ahead of the opening of the women’s hockey tournament.

Just over a week and five wins later, his young, talented and fearless team has delivered.

Hanna Olsson scored, Ebba Traff Svensson stopped 29 shots and Sweden beat Czechia 2-0 on Friday to advance to the semifinal round for the first time in 12 years.

“It’s a wonderful feeling,” Lundberg said of a team that has finished no better than sixth in the last five world championships. “Going back to the World Cup in the Czech Republic, we were close. But everyone talks about when are they going to advance to the semi-final? And now we have done it. I am very satisfied.”

After Olsson scored a power-play goal at 4:47 of the second period, Hilda Svensson sparked a huge celebration by sealing the victory with an empty-net goal with 25 seconds left.

Sweden had not advanced to the semifinals since finishing fourth at the 2014 Sochi Games. And the nation is in position to win its third Olympic medal, and its first since winning silver at the 2006 Turin Games, when Sweden beat the United States in the semifinals.

The Swedes have a young and talented squad made up of a core of the team that won silver in the 2018 U-18 championship. There are eight players aged 22 or younger, seven of whom are currently competing at universities in the United States. They include Svensson, the 19-year-old Ohio State freshman, who is tied for seventh in the country with 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) in 26 games.

Sweden entered the quarterfinals as the tournament’s sixth seed after going 4-0 in the preliminary round to win the Group B title.

Czech Klara Peslarova finished with 21 saves.

The defeat was a major disappointment for a Czech team on the rise since finishing seventh in its Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Games. Czechia has since won two bronze medals, the first in the women’s game, and finished fourth twice in the last four world championships.

“There are just no words for this. It hurts. It will hurt for a long time,” Natalie Mlynkova said. “We were supposed to have this one.”