MILAN (AP) — The United States and Canada will face off Olympic gold for the seventh time since women’s hockey debuted at the 1998 Nagano Games in a border rivalry that never gets old.
And this time, the Americans are the favorites at the Milan Cortina Games.
The US clinched its spot on Monday with a 5-0 victory over Sweden in the semifinals. And defending champion Canadians followed with Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice to set the Olympic career goal record in a 2-1 victory over Switzerland that was too close for comfort.
The results set up the final showdown between the sport’s world powers in the gold medal final on Thursday.
And it could very well be the last meeting between the the old stars of two teams: Poulin, nicknamed ‘Captain Clutch’, and American captain Hilary Knight, who has already announced that this will be her fifth and final Olympic Games.
For the Americans, it didn’t matter who they faced in a tournament they dominated, winning 6-0 and outscoring their opponents by a combined margin of 31-1.
“We’ve played them a few times, so obviously we won’t be surprised, but I know they have a first-team game as well,” defenseman Lee Stecklein said. “No matter who we face, we have to be ready for that challenge.”
Goaltender Aerin Frankel stopped 21 shots for her third shutout of the tournament, and the Americans blew the game open when Abbey Murphy, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hayley Scamurra scored on consecutive shots in a span of 2:47 late in the second period. Cayla Barnes opened the scoring and Taylor Heise also scored.
The USA are yet to trail or level after 0-0, and are in position to become the third women’s team to do so throughout the tournament, having joined Canada in 2006 and 2010. The Americans also extended their shutout streak to 331 minutes, 23 seconds, dating back to Czech Barbora Jurickova beating Frankel on a breakaway in the second period of a tournament opener 5-1.
“I think we look great. We’ve been very consistent throughout the tournament,” Scamurra said. “I don’t even think we are at the top, but I think our top is certainly due to winning that gold medal.”
The Canadians have had their problems during a tournament. Poulin missed two games – including the loss to the US – with a right knee injury before returning for a 5-1 win over Germany in the quarter-finals.
Poulin opened the scoring 1:49 into the second period by skipping a shot between the circles that bounced and went in off goalkeeper Andrea Braendli’s stick. She made it 2-0 about 6-1/2 minutes later by converting a rebound after Braendli stopped a Daryl Watts shot.
Poulin now has 20 career goals in five Olympic appearances, breaking the record of 18 set by former teammate and Hockey Hall of Famer Hayley Wickenheiser.
Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped seven shots.
Rahel Enzler scored for Switzerland 4:53 into the third period. Braendli, who finished with 44 saves after a 40-save performance in a 1-0 win over Finland in the quarter-finals.
Now it’s time for the gold medal match in a tournament where the US already defeated Canada 5-0 in a preliminary round match last week. The Americans won Olympic gold in 1998 and 2018, while Canada won the other five tournaments.
The US has recently had the edge in the rivalry between the sport’s two world powers, winning seven in a row and beating Canada twice at the world championships in April.
“Nothing matters. It’s the gold medal game,” Heise said of a possible rematch against Canada. “Obviously I’ve done a great job and had a lot of success. You want to take that confidence and that motivation, but you want to go further. We’re going to look for us and we’re going to do what we have to do on Thursday and hopefully we’ll come out on top.”
Sweden and Switzerland play for bronze in a rematch of their meeting at the 2014 Sochi Games. Switzerland won 4-3 winning his first and only women’s hockey medal.
The Swedes are aiming for their third Olympic medaland his first since winning silver at the 2006 Turin Games after upsetting the US in the semi-finals.
“We are not done yet. We are now going for the bronze,” said Swedish striker Nicole Hall.
Ebba Svensson Traff stopped 19 of 23 shots before being pulled after Coyne Schofield tipped Laila Edwards’ shot from the blue line with 3:50 left in the second period. Emma Soderberg took over and allowed a goal on 11 shots.
Although the Swedes kept the match exciting for 35 minutes, the Americans were ultimately exhausted.
“Maybe today we needed a plexiglass in front of the net to stay in the game,” said coach Ulf Lundberg, who noted that his team largely kept the U.S. at bay except for the collapse late in the second period. “I’m proud of the work ethic and I’m proud of the way we were able to perform in the third period, so we have a lot of habits to take into the bronze medal game.”
AP Olympic coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
