USA Women’s National Hockey Team trounced Finland 5-1

Team USA's youth took center stage as their hot hands fired shot after shot into Finland's goal.

Fueled to victory by their young players, the USA Women's National Hockey Team trounced Finland 5-1 in Thursday night's exhibition game at the World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo. in front of 5,242 fans.

Team USA took control of the game early and never let up.  They tasted blood when forward Kelli Stack scored off an assist from defenseman Kacey Bellamy. The team played a smart game, making good passes and finding the open player. In total, the had an astounding 57 shots on goal for the night.

"This game was really good for us," forward Erika Lawler said. "We definitely showed up tonight. That's just going to keep our momentum going forward on into the tournament to come."

Young players, such as 22-year-old Stack and Lawler, who turns 23 today, stepped up in a big way with top-scorer Hilary Knight sidelined as a precaution after suffering a lower-body injury. It was the young players that kept Finland in what seemed to be constant defensive mode for most of the game.

Finland finally caught a break late in the first period. Taking the offensive, they pounded the goal with close-range shots and eventually tied it up by scoring on a power play with a minute left in the period. Goalie Noora Raty of Finland, who plays for the University of Minnesota, was the only backbone for Finland's crumbling offense and defense. She was the only one who kept Finland in the game during Team USA's hot streak of shots on goal and as her team's offense and defense went cold.

USA goalie Jessie Vetter also had a standout night. She saved 24 of 25 shots on goal, and was near perfect except for the one point Finland scored on the night during a scramble at the mouth of the goal during Finland's five-on-three advantage.

But Team USA took back the lead early in the second period with a goal by four-time Olympian Jenny Potter off a rebound from a shot on goal by Molly Engstrom and redirected by Jocelyne Lamoureux.

Four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero scored a goal as well as Lawler and Natalie Darwitz. While Finland failed to capitalize on Team USA penalties, the Americans found the back of the net three times in the first eight minutes of the third period.

Team USA ended their 10-game exhibition run with a decisive win, but how that will affect them in Vancouver, no one knows.

"I definitely think it's anybody's game," Stack said. "We've lost to Finland before, so to beat them with this big of a margin tonight is really good for our confidence, but I think once we get to the Olympics it's anybody's game. You can't count anybody out at that point."

The Americans are currently ranked No. 1 in the world after having won back-to-back world championships, but they are the second seed at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Canada has been dominating the world hockey scene and is favored to win gold, but Team USA has other plans.

"In a tournament like the Olympics, it's such a short term that you can't make any mistakes, you can't look ahead to any of the opponents," Coach Mike Johnson said. "The most important game for us right now is the game against China. After we finish that game, we'll move on to our next opponent."

Tags: Angela Ruggiero, Erika Lawler, Jenny Potter, Kelli Stack, Natalie Darwitz, Rebecca Johnson, US Women's National Hockey Team, USA Hockey, USOC