For first time in 20 years, US women's hockey takes gold

Their victory over long-time rival Canada capped a year that started with the threat of a boycott to secure more money and the same kind of treatment that US Hockey gives to the men's team.

|
Jae C. Hong/AP
Players for the United States women's hockey team celebrate after winning the gold medal at the Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea on Feb. 22, 2018. The win disrupted a five-time gold medal streak for the Canadian team.

Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson skated slowly back and forth toward the net, showing forehand, then leaning quickly to the left to fake a backhand that pulled Canadian goalie Shannon Szabados out of the crease.

On the sport's biggest stage, against the Americans' greatest rival, with all her teammates leaning eagerly over the boards watching her every move, the three-time Olympian came back to her forehand to finish off a dazzling, triple-deke move by sliding the puck into the net past the outstretched glove of Ms. Szabados for the deciding goal in the sixth round of a shootout thriller.

"I knew when that went in that Maddie was going to stop the next one," Ms. Lamoureux-Davidson said.

That would be goalie Maddie Rooney, who stuffed the last two Canadian shooters to wrap up a 3-2 victory Thursday that snapped the Americans' 20-year gold medal drought and ended Canada's bid for a fifth straight title in the first shootout in an Olympic women's final.

The Americans piled over the boards, throwing gloves in the air before piling on top of Ms. Rooney on the ice – 20 years after their last gold medal in women's hockey and 38 years to the day after the men's famous "Miracle on Ice" victory over the Soviet team in group play at Lake Placid.

"Joy's the only word that comes to mind," said Gigi Marvin, a three-time Olympian and at 30 the oldest American on the roster.

This victory capped a year that started with the Americans threatening a boycott of the world championships to secure more money and the same kind of treatment that US Hockey gives to the men's team.

"They should make a movie on it," forward Hilary Knight said. "We had all the drama and everything. It's sort of a storybook ending to an incredible series of accomplishments."

Nothing was more incredible than the move by Lamoureux-Davidson, who decided to use the deke called "Oops, I did it again" – something she had practiced uncounted times in practice, skating around tires set up on open ice to mimic defenders.

"I'm just thrilled beyond words," the beaming Lamoureux-Davidson said with a US flag draped around her shoulders and gold hanging on her chest. "I've butchered it a thousand times, just ran into tires, tripped over tires just working on my hands. Just glad it worked out this time."

Her twin, Monique Lamoureux-Morando , said coach Peter Elander, now at Ohio State, had taught the sisters the shootout move when the three were at the University of North Dakota.

"Not everyone can take the pressure like that, and she took it like a champ," she said.

Ms. Marvin and Amanda Kessel also scored in the shootout, another nail-biter ending four years after Canada won its fourth-straight gold medal in Sochi after rallying to stun the Americans in overtime.

Ms. Knight gave the US a 1-0 lead with 25.4 seconds left in the first, redirecting a shot from Sidney Morin through Szabados' pads to give the Americans a jolt of energy.

That lasted only 2 minutes into the second when Haley Irwin tipped a midair pass from Blayre Turnbull over Rooney's left leg for Canada. And when Ms. Morin lost the puck, Melodie Daoust grabbed it and passed to Meghan Agosta who hit Marie-Philip Poulin for the wrister into the left side of the net at 6:55 for a 2-1 lead.

Lamoureux-Morando tied it up with a breakaway with 6:21 left in regulation. Knight also had a goal and Rooney was spectacular, making 29 saves for the win. Rooney stopped the last two Canadian shooters in the shootout in Brianne Jenner and then Ms. Agosta on her second attempt.

Pressure? Rooney's grin was clear to see throughout the shootout.

"Right before she came down, I just looked over at the bench and saw my teammates like pointing at me, just one more," Rooney said. "And to have their support made it a whole lot easier. I just reacted to her, and then everything kind of went into a blur."

It was sweet redemption for the 10 Americans who watched the Canadians snatch gold away in Sochi. Not only did the Americans end the Canadians' stranglehold on Olympic gold, they ended a skid of five straight against their rival coming into this game, including a 2-1 loss in the tournament a week ago.

"It is everything for our country," US coach Robb Stauber said. "I am just so thankful for the outcome. It was a thrilling final. It was unreal."

Ms. Poulin and Ms. Irwin each scored goals for Canada. Agosta and Ms. Daoust scored in the shootout.

The Canadians, who had pushed the Americans around for much of the game and taken penalties for it, wept on the ice as they accepted their silver medals. Jocelyne Larocque took hers off immediately and held it in her hands as the Americans stood nearby awaiting their gold.

"It's just hard," Ms. Larocque said. "You work so hard. We wanted gold but didn't get it."

The Canadians said they didn't like the shootout format, preferring overtime to settle a game of such magnitude.

"We've trained so hard," Agosta said. "It's unfortunate this had to come down to a shootout. When it comes down to a shootout it can be anybody's game."

Added Canada coach Laura Schuler: "There's not a lot of words that can describe how you feel. It was a great game of hockey. It's what we expected: back and forth hockey."

The Americans had dominated the women's game in non-Olympic years, winning the last four and eight of the last 10 world championships, including a 3-2 overtime victory over Canada last spring.

It only made the lack of gold at the Olympics all the more noticeable, and Canada has been in their way since losing the inaugural gold in Nagano in 1998. Canada had won 24 straight Olympic games to go along with those four consecutive gold medals – a streak of success in a women's team sport second only to the US basketball team's current streak of six straight gold.

This was the eighth time these North American rivals had met in the Olympics and the fifth with gold on the line. None has been decided by more than two goals.

Stauber went with Rooney in net after she won the only three games the US took from Canada last fall during a pre-Olympic exhibition tour.

And like Lamoureux-Davidson, the youngster delivered in the biggest moment.

"Everything got into a blur, seeing my teammates sprinting at me," Rooney said. "It's an indescribable feeling."

This story was reported by The Associated Press.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to For first time in 20 years, US women's hockey takes gold
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Olympics/2018/0222/For-first-time-in-20-years-US-women-s-hockey-takes-gold
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe