GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images
Repeating as gold medalists was not meant to be for the United States, which won silver behind Canada for the fourth time in Olympic women’s ice hockey history.
The United States found themselves in a 3-0 hole in the first 30 minutes of Thursday’s game. Two of Canada’s three goals have come from none other than Canada’s ‘clutch captain’ Marie-Philip Poulin. The 30-year-old striker is the only Olympian to score in four Olympic gold medal games, and she scored the game-winning goal for the Canadians in each of the last three times Canada beat the United States in final.
B/R Open Ice @BR_OpenIce
Training: doubled 😳#TeamCanada takes a 2-0 lead on Marie-Philip Poulin’s goal
Slow start
It’s a daunting task to come back against any team, let alone Canada’s caliber.
“We can’t score that many goals,” said Hilary Knight, referring to the 3-0 deficit the United States faced until her shorthanded goal in the second period.
A late goal from Amanda Kessel made the game interesting, but the United States failed to equalise. The Americans simply ran out of time.
“I saw us practice, I saw us play, I saw us play 60 minutes and that just wasn’t it,” Knight said. “I think if you saw the best of the best, the score would be different. At the end of the day, it’s sports, and you have to give them credit because they played a better total of 60 minutes than us.”
The shots on goal were even at 11 after the first period, but the United States were already trailing 2-0. He then beat Canada 40-21 on shot, but just couldn’t find the back of the net enough.
“We’ve played too many games in the tournament where we’ve failed to score in the first half, and that’s catching up with you,” USA head coach Joel Johnson said. “So (it’s) hard to take it when I think overall we played pretty well.”
Overcome the obstacles
Despite their failure, the United States remains proud of the way they competed, especially considering all the adversity they faced.
“I think the way we played today showed the fight, the courage, the resilience and the adversity that this group has had to face and overcome for the past three years, six months and two weeks,” said U.S. Captain Kendall Coyne Schofield.
Harry Comment/Getty Images
Following coaching changes and injuries – in the midst of a global pandemic, no less – the United States earned the right to defend their gold medal from 2018. Once the sting of the past defeat, making it to the gold medal game will be something the team can always be proud of. That said, some of the players still have a bigger fight to fight: the visibility of the sport between Olympic competitions.
There’s more to women’s hockey than the Olympics
On the international stage, the women’s teams from the United States and Canada are the fiercest of rivals. Once back in North America, however, they stand side by side in the fight for more professional opportunities for women’s hockey players.
“There are a lot of young girls watching at home,” Coyne Schofield said in tears. “Women’s hockey can’t be silent after these two weeks. They have to be able to see themselves in us and they can’t be silent. They can’t be invisible because it’s not the Olympics.”
Almost all of the players in the gold medal game are still in college or playing in the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) – only Alex Carpenter and Megan Bozek play elsewhere. The PWHPA, a loose brand of women’s hockey, differs from the Premier Hockey Federation, officially known as the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), where six teams in six different North American cities compete for the final prize of a league championship and the Isobel Cup.
The debate over whether the PHF or PWHPA will be the “only league” to win the National Hockey League portfolio on salaries. No matter where the question comes in, Coyne Schofield’s words ring true for most who love women’s hockey and would watch more of it if only they could. Nationally televised matches are rare, but that’s not the players’ fault.
The following Showcase PWHPA will take place on February 26 and 27 in Ottawa. The PHF returns to action this weekend at Tria Rink in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Author’s Note: Erica L. Ayala is a women’s hockey commentator and is in her sixth season calling games for the renowned PHF.
