U.S. Women Win the Gold in Olympic Hockey

If you stayed up until the wee hours of February 22nd to watch the U.S. women’s hockey team play Canada in the Gold Medal game at the PyeongChang Olympics, you were rewarded with one heck of a game.

Women’s hockey as a medal sport has been in existence since the 1998 games, and it’s pretty much been Canada and the U.S., followed by everyone else. The U.S team won the first gold in ’98, and the Canadians won the next four. Canada won the silver in ’98. The U.S. took silver in 2002, 2010, and 2014, and a bronze in 2006. Since the loser of the Gold Medal game wins the silver, that also means the U.S. has lost to Canada several times since, including an overtime loss in Sochi in ’14. Since losing that Gold Medal game back in ’98, the Canadian women had not lost a game and were riding a 24 game winning streak. In fact, Canada beat the U.S. 2-1 earlier in the tournament.

But this was a new day, and the U.S. had a 1-0 lead going into the first intermission after a Hilary Knight power play goal. But the Canadians scored a pair of goals in the second period to take a 2-1 lead. Then at 13:39 of the third period, Monique Lamoureaux-Morando scored for the U.S. to even it up (yes, that name sounds like someone from Quebec, but she is from the U.S.). It was 2-2 at the end of regulation, and at the end of the overtime period. The championship would come down to a shootout.

The two teams traded goals twice in the shootout. Then Monique’s twin sister Jocelyn Lamoureaux-Davidson slipped one by goalie Shannon Szabados. It was up to Meghan Agosta to keep Canada’s hopes alive; Agosta had already scored once in the shootout.

But not this time. Maddie Rooney made the save and the U.S. ended years of frustration with a 3-2 win and the Gold.

Here’s a link to the shootout.