Third Times A Charm For Team USA

With the previous two match ups between Team USA and Team Canada going to Team Canada, the women's U18 squad from the United States was looking to end that trend and defeat Team Canada in the first ever Women's World U18 Championship. At the outset of the tournament, it was expected that the two North American countries would face off for the gold medal and that is exactly what happened.


Team USA went 3-0 in round robin play with two 11-0 shutouts, one against Russia and the other against Switzerland, and a 6-2 victory over Sweden. In the qualifying game, they rolled out to an 8-0 win against the Czech Republic to earn a spot in the gold medal game. Team Canada had an equally easy time in their round robin play as they beat the Czech Republic 11-2, Germany 10-1 and shutout the disappointing Finland team 17-0. They put Sweden away in the qualifying game 7-1 to reach the gold medal game against Team USA.


In the gold medal game, Team USA got out to an early lead and never looked back. At the end of the first period, Team USA was up 2-0. The second period was again dominated by Team USA, at least on the scoreboard, as they increased their lead to 4-0 until a late goal by Team Canada made it 4-1 going into the break. Canada came out in the third period strong but after an early goal by the Canadians, Team USA shut the door and took the game 5-2.


The bronze medal was awarded to the Czech Republic after they defeated Sweden 4-2. Germany finished fifth after beating Finland 4-1 while Switzerland dropped Russia 4-1 to finish the tournament in seventh position.