International Ice Hockey Federation

Record win for USA

Record win for USA

Americans top group, Canada to QF

Published 15.08.2018 10:47 GMT+5 | Author Andy Potts
Record win for USA
DMITROV, RUSSIA - JANUARY 9: USA's Taylor Heise #23 sand her teammate Britta Curl #14 look on after scoring on Canada's Kendra Woodland #29 in the second period during preliminary round action at the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship. (Photo by Francois Laplante/HHOF-IIHF Images)
A 6-2 victory over Canada sees the USA top Group A and set a new record win over its neighbour. Canada now faces a quarter-final tie.

A powerful second period lifted Team USA to a best-ever victory over its old rival from Canada and secured top spot in Group A.

Dominique Petrie and captain Taylor Heise led the American scoring with 1+2 apiece, and 15-year-old Makenna Webster added three assists to her overtime winner against Sweden as she continued a memorable debut tournament.

Petrie credited the locker-room chat during the first intermission with unleashing the four-goal blitz that decided this game in the second stanza.

"We came in the locker room and knew that we had a bit more to give," she said. "So after that, we just went out and really supported each other. Once the first one came, those floodgates opened. It was just unbelievable the way we got so much support from our team-mates; even if you make a bad play you felt you could keep going and the next one would come."

For Canada, though, the pain of a record loss against its southern neighbour was compounded by the prospect of facing a quarter-final tie for the first time in the current format of Women’s U18 World Championship competition.

With both teams aware that victory was vital to progress direct to the semi-finals, the Americans were first to settle. Canada had already killed one penalty when the USA went in front on a delayed call. Heise, characteristically, drove the puck to the net where Petrie stuffed it home from close range.

Canada hit back to tie the game four minutes later when Margaret Connors shot home a Sarah Fillier pass from behind the net, and the crowd settled down to enjoy another close match-up between two notorious rivals.

But if the first period provided that, that middle frame saw the U.S. power clear. Casey O’Brien’s first ever World Championship goal broke the deadlock early in the second, with the rookie duo of Abigail Murphy and Makenna Webster combining well to serve up a dish for O’Brien at the far post. Then, two goals in 70 seconds took the game away from Canada. Allyson Simpson produced some great work in the left-hand channel to get away from her defender and reaped the rewards as she flashed the puck toward the net and saw it squeeze behind goalie Kendra Woodland. Then Heise added the fourth, reacting smartly to swivel on the puck and shoot home after a big rebound in front of Woodland’s net.

Canada swapped its goalies, bringing Madelyn McArthur to the crease, but Heise found the answer to her as well just before the second intermission, finishing off an impressive surge from Petrie.

"I didn't really see that second period coming," said USA head coach Joel Johnson. "I thought the first was a bit 'blah' from both teams. We talked about how it was out there waiting for someone to take control and, credit to our players, that's what they did."

Down by four, the Canadians refused to let their commitment waver for a moment. There was no shortage of vocal support from the bench in the third period, with loud cheers greeting every successful block and interception from the defence. But the game was still going very much America’s way, and Webster set up Murphy for a sixth goal to take the scoreline into record-breaking territory for games between these countries.

There was a late consolation for Canada when Audrey-Anne Veillet scored a late power play goal, but the USA’s scoreline was its best against Canada in WW18. The four-goal margin also matches Canada’s best-ever victory, 5-1 in 2014’s Gold Medal Game.

Despite the loss, Canada's head coach Delaney Collins was not too deflated."I wouldn't say it was our worst day ever," she said. "Of course we're not happy with a 6-2 loss, but there were some good things out there like our penalty kill."

 

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