Maddie Rooney celebrates after defeating Canada in a shootout for the women's gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 on Feb. 22, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea.
In their first meeting since the epic 2018 Olympic gold-medal game, the U.S. and Canada women’s ice hockey teams faced off Wednesday at the Four Nations Cup in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. And like nearly every matchup prior between the archrivals, the game came down to the wire.
Tied 1-1 going into the third period, the teams battled until Sydney Brodt finally broke the deadlock with 1:38 left in regulation, scoring off a rebound to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead. That score held, giving Team USA the win over Canada eight months after its gold-medal showdown in PyeongChang, when the U.S. won in a shootout.
The U.S. got off to a fast start as it looked to knock off Canada on its home ice. Team USA forward and Vadnais Heights, Minnesota, native Hannah Brandt scored 1:18 into the first period to put the U.S. ahead first.
For the first two periods, Team USA held Canada off the scoreboard. U.S. goaltender Alex Rigsby stopped 23 shots and did not give up a goal until the early part of the third period, when Loren Gabel scored for Canada.
The game remained tied at 1-1 until Brodt, a North Oaks, Minnesota, native scored on an assist from Team USA center Brianna Decker. Brodt is one of six players making their Four Nations Cup debut in Saskatoon.
The U.S. held off a late push from Canada following Brodt’s goal to secure the win. Combined with Tuesday’s 5-1 win over Finland, Team USA is now 2-0 at this tournament and 4-1-0-1 in the past three Four Nations Cups against Canada.
The U.S. will wrap up the round-robin portion of the tournament on Friday against Sweden. The top two teams in the tournament will face off in Saturday’s gold-medal game. Team USA has won each of the past three Four Nations Cups.
Ryan Williamson is a sportswriter from Minneapolis-St. Paul. He is a contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
