photo: Matt Zambonin/IIHF
The United States advanced to the gold-medal game with a solid 9-1 win over Sweden this afternoon at Centre 200 in Sydney. The loss means Sweden will play for bronze tomorrow afternoon against the loser of the Canada-Czechia game later tonight. They last won a medal in 2023, a silver.
Jane Daley scored one of the U.S. goals, her record-setting 12th of the tournament. She leads all players with 17 points. Maggie Averill and Emily Pohl had two goals and two assists each.
"We don't take any of our opponents lightly," Pohl said. "We knew it was going to be a good game, but I think all of us are us are prepared. Our coaches and teammates do a great job preparing all of us. So just have fun and smile and play our game that we know how to play."
The result was far more one-sided than a year ago, when these teams met in the semis and the Americans won by a narrow 2-1 score.
"It's a tough game," admitted Swden's Ebba Westerlind. "They're a good team, and we tried to hold up against them. I think we did some good things, the same as the game against Canada. But, obviously, it goes fast. It's hard for us. I felt like they were first on the pucks, especially in the first period. I think we did better throughout the game."
As is so often the case with the U.S., they scored early to put their opponents behind the 8-ball right away. On this occasion, it came off an Averill goal at 3:56. Her quick point shot went through traffic and beat a surprised Meja Engelin in goal.
The Swedes, however, matched the U.S. for the rest of the period, creating a few decent chances and limiting last year's silver medallists to just one more goal. That came on a power play later in the period.
Talla Hansen fed a nice pass through the slot to Pohl, who smacked it in from close range at 14:51 to make it a 2-0 game.
The Americans blew the game open in a dominant second period. Jillian McLaughlin made it 3-0 at 6:59 after converting a nice pass from Sloane Hartmetz. Soon after, the Swedes imploded. Westerlind took a minor penalty, and after the whistle Moa Stridh was assessed a major and game misconduct for spearing.
The U.S. scored twice on the power play, once with the 5-on-3 and once during the extended 5-on-4. Daley got the first one, her bad-angle shot banking in off Engelin’s skate. It was her 12th goal in just five games. Averill then got her second with another point shot, this one squeezing through the goalie’s pads at 11:18. It was the team’s 50th goal of the tournament.
Pohl added to the totals with her second of the night off a high shot, and Madelyn Kimbrel made it 7-0 converting an in-close pass from Kylie Amelkovich.
Sweden broke Bianca Birrittieri's shutout bid early in the third on a power play. Westerlind made a great fake at the point to get around one defender, and although Birrittieri stopped her shot, Tilde Grillfors was there to backhand the rebound in at 3:03.
Only 83 seconds later, however, the Americans struck again when Hansen was allowed to waltz in on goal. She beat Thea Holmberg, who started the third in place of Engelin, to make it 8-1. Lindsay Stepnowski added another goal on the power play to close out the scoring.
"It was a lot of work to get here and put ourselves in this spot," said U.S. coach Courtney Kennedy of the impending gold-medal game. "I'm very proud of the players. I'm proud of the way they played through all three periods of every single game. It's uphill from here. Whoever wins this next game, we're gonna have to prepare and get back to the drawing board on what we need to do to be successful. And I think both teams that we could end up playing, I think they're both fantastic. They're well coached. And, yeah, it'll be a hard, hard game."
Jane Daley scored one of the U.S. goals, her record-setting 12th of the tournament. She leads all players with 17 points. Maggie Averill and Emily Pohl had two goals and two assists each.
"We don't take any of our opponents lightly," Pohl said. "We knew it was going to be a good game, but I think all of us are us are prepared. Our coaches and teammates do a great job preparing all of us. So just have fun and smile and play our game that we know how to play."
The result was far more one-sided than a year ago, when these teams met in the semis and the Americans won by a narrow 2-1 score.
"It's a tough game," admitted Swden's Ebba Westerlind. "They're a good team, and we tried to hold up against them. I think we did some good things, the same as the game against Canada. But, obviously, it goes fast. It's hard for us. I felt like they were first on the pucks, especially in the first period. I think we did better throughout the game."
As is so often the case with the U.S., they scored early to put their opponents behind the 8-ball right away. On this occasion, it came off an Averill goal at 3:56. Her quick point shot went through traffic and beat a surprised Meja Engelin in goal.
The Swedes, however, matched the U.S. for the rest of the period, creating a few decent chances and limiting last year's silver medallists to just one more goal. That came on a power play later in the period.
Talla Hansen fed a nice pass through the slot to Pohl, who smacked it in from close range at 14:51 to make it a 2-0 game.
The Americans blew the game open in a dominant second period. Jillian McLaughlin made it 3-0 at 6:59 after converting a nice pass from Sloane Hartmetz. Soon after, the Swedes imploded. Westerlind took a minor penalty, and after the whistle Moa Stridh was assessed a major and game misconduct for spearing.
The U.S. scored twice on the power play, once with the 5-on-3 and once during the extended 5-on-4. Daley got the first one, her bad-angle shot banking in off Engelin’s skate. It was her 12th goal in just five games. Averill then got her second with another point shot, this one squeezing through the goalie’s pads at 11:18. It was the team’s 50th goal of the tournament.
Pohl added to the totals with her second of the night off a high shot, and Madelyn Kimbrel made it 7-0 converting an in-close pass from Kylie Amelkovich.
Sweden broke Bianca Birrittieri's shutout bid early in the third on a power play. Westerlind made a great fake at the point to get around one defender, and although Birrittieri stopped her shot, Tilde Grillfors was there to backhand the rebound in at 3:03.
Only 83 seconds later, however, the Americans struck again when Hansen was allowed to waltz in on goal. She beat Thea Holmberg, who started the third in place of Engelin, to make it 8-1. Lindsay Stepnowski added another goal on the power play to close out the scoring.
"It was a lot of work to get here and put ourselves in this spot," said U.S. coach Courtney Kennedy of the impending gold-medal game. "I'm very proud of the players. I'm proud of the way they played through all three periods of every single game. It's uphill from here. Whoever wins this next game, we're gonna have to prepare and get back to the drawing board on what we need to do to be successful. And I think both teams that we could end up playing, I think they're both fantastic. They're well coached. And, yeah, it'll be a hard, hard game."
Semi-finals #1: USA vs Sweden - 2026 IIHF U18 Women's Worlds Championship
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