2026 Olympic Women’s Hockey: Top standouts from USA vs. Czechia
The best team in the world made it known they weren’t about to suffer an early letdown in Milan.
In their first game of the 2026 Winter Olympics, the United States flexed its muscle against an improved Czechia roster, running away with a 5-1 win.
While some thought the Czechs might have the group to pull off an upset against one of the North American powers, the Americans made sure nothing newsworthy was going to happen on Thursday. The reigning world champions peppered Klara Peslarova from the opening puck drop, and got on the board first with a power-play goal from Alex Carpenter.
The U.S. kept its foot on the gas in the middle stanza, with Joy Dunne and Hayley Scamuura scoring just over a minute apart to widen the gap. There was an instance where it looked like Czechia was going to fight back, as Barbora Jurickova scored on a breakaway after serving a penalty to make it 3-1. However, that was as close as the game got.
Captain Hilary Knight scored a dandy for her first of the tournament late in the second to take momentum back, and Scamurra managed to put the game on the ice with her second of the game in the third.
With the goal, Knight has 13 career goals at the Olympics, placing her one behind Natalie Darwitz and Katie King for the most by an American at the Winter Games.
It was a disappointing result for Czechia, a team that came to Italy with high confidence. The team’s key step now is to avoid letting the loss affect them, as they still have a chance to finish third in the group.
Team USA outshot Czechia 42-14. U.S. goaltender Aerin Frankel made 13 saves in her Olympic debut, while Peslarova made 37 saves in the losing effort. The Americans went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Czechia went 0-for-1.
Czechia is right back at it on Friday, taking on Switzerland. The Americans are off until Saturday when they (hopefully) take on Finland.
United States
Hayley Scamurra, F
13th forward? Who cares. In a tournament like this, you need all hands on deck. The Montreal Victoire forward showed that against Czechia. Scamurra was the benefactor of some great setups, but her ability to put herself in a position to score, for a depth player, was exceptional. To make the most of her measly 6:45 of ice time shows the type of player the Buffalo native is, a hard-working asset who can play in any situation.
Tessa Janecke, F
One of the players who assisted on Scamurra’s goals was Tessa Janecke. The hero from last year’s Women’s Worlds was on fire in the second period. Along with assisting on Scamurra and Dunne’s tallies, the Penn State star came close to scoring a couple of times herself. While she’s listed as the fourth-line center, Janecke showed that she’s just as capable of creating offense as the top six.
Joy Dunne, F
I might as well talk about another member of that fourth line that just caused havoc for the Czechs. The Ohio State product was doing everything she could to score, along with a nice tip-in for her first as an Olympian. In just 11:06 of ice time, she ended up leading the Americans with five shots on goal. In games that will come down to the nitty-gritty, head coach John Wroblewski can certainly trust his bottom six to come through if need be.
Czechia
Tereza Plosova, F
There wasn’t much to cheer for on the Czech side, but seeing some of the things Plosova could do against one of the best teams in the world shows she has the makings of a future star in the pro ranks. The 19-year-old nearly tied the game on a makeshift breakaway early in the game and created some opportunities later on. Plosova will have a great chance to flourish against the likes of Finland and Switzerland in the coming days.