USA Women’s Team Earns Gold For the First Time in 20 Years

USA Women’s Team Earns Gold For the First Time in 20 Years

February 22, 2018 Off By tailgatesports

 

GOLD!! Tears rolling down the faces of both team USA and team Canada, but in 2018 the roles are reversed! The United States Women’s Ice Hockey team has broken the streak of 4 straight Olympic gold medals and 24 straight Olympic wins of the powerhouse team Canada. After coming up short in not only the 2014 Olympics in overtime but also the 2010 gold medal game, The United States gets their revenge on their rivals ! This was a really thrilling game and it is a real shame it had to end in a shootout, because I think I am speaking for everyone saying this…. I would have watched sudden death hockey for the gold medal. Both countries should be really proud as they put on a show and made all of their fans proud tonight. And for those of us on the east coast , this game was well worth staying up until 2:00AM!

Hillary Knight put the United States on the board in the first period and the team was feeling it knowing that if anybody is going to get the U.S. fired up it’s their captain. But then, Canada answered in the second period including one by their captain, Marie-Philip Poulin. Entering the third period the United States ladies knew they had to be more physical on the puck and had to stay out of the penalty box and they were able to do so. With around seven minutes to go in the third, Monique Lamoureux-Morando put a goal past the glove side of Shannon Szabados, who was pretty much a brick wall all night. Then came overtime.

The United States had momentum the entire overtime period. They possessed the puck more, won the puck battles, and had more shots than Canada. However, neither team could find a way to put the puck in the net, so a shootout had to be the deciding factor. Whether it is good for the sport to end in a shootout is neither here nor there because this shootout was a thriller. Each team scored twice in their first five shots so it came down to extra shots where the United States elected to shoot first. Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson took the puck from the center ice dot, swooped in slowly going left to right to left to middle then performed an unreal deke to beat Szabados. The move was jaw dropping and electrifying , and if you haven’t seen it, you need to. Finally, it came down to 20 year-old goaltender, Maddie Rooney, to make one last save, which she did to capture the Gold Medal.

What a game and what a finish. Congratulations to the United States Women’s hockey team, you ladies deserved that victory, it was sweet to see the tears of misery and defeat stroll down the Canadian’s faces this time around.

 

 

 

Written by Nick Gendreau and Mason Wilkins

CategoryHome NHL