Women’s Worlds: Canada, USA to compete for gold medal for 21st time

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
Apr 16, 2023, 13:17 EDT
Women’s Worlds: Canada, USA to compete for gold medal for 21st time
Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Team Canada. Team USA. Once again, the two preeminent women’s hockey nations on the planet will go head-to-head for the gold medal at the IIHF Women’s World Championship.

The stage is set for Sunday’s championship final at Brampton, Ont.’s CAA Centre. It’ll mark the 21st time Canada and the USA have faced off for the gold medal, with the lone exception coming in 2019 when the Americans defeated Team Finland in a shootout.

Team USA defeated Team Czechia by a 9–1 score on Saturday to book a spot in the gold-medal game. Amanda Kessel, Hilary Knight, and Tessa Janecke each tallied twice in the commanding victory, which saw the Americans control the shots by a 45–15 margin.

It took until just past the midway mark of the second period for the Czechs to get on the board, with Adela Sapovalivova scoring her team’s lone goal of the contest to cut the Americans’ lead to 4–1. Abby Roque responded less than four minutes later to restore the four-goal spread.

Caroline Harvey continued her excellent tournament with a four-point outing against Czechia, recording three assists before scoring a goal of her own to cap off the victory. Harvey, who finished with a game-high +4 rating, now has 12 points in six games at the tournament.

Canada didn’t score quite as many goals in its own semifinal game, but it’s hard to argue that they weren’t just as dominant — if not more.

Sarah Fillier netted a hat trick to help propel the Canadians to a 5–1 win over Team Switzerland, in which the shots on goal favored the hosts 59–9. Andrea Braendli was nothing short of outstanding in the loss, making 54 saves and holding Canada to just two goals through two periods.

Switzerland weathered a flat-out barrage in the third period to the best of its ability. Canada fired 29 shots on Braendli but scored on just three, with Swiss star Alina Muller countering with a goal of her own along the way. Although the Canadians ultimately prevailed by a comfortable margin, the Swiss lived up to their pesky reputation in the process.

Jamie Lee Rattray and Rebecca Johnston also scored in the victory for Canada, while goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped all but one of the nine shots she faced.

Teams USA and Canada are slated to do battle for gold at 7:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, four hours after the Czechs and Swiss play for bronze. In their previous matchups in the preliminary round, Canada beat the Americans 4–3 in a shootout before Czechia defeated Switzerland by a 5–2 score.

Quick hits

  • Shortly before publication time on this piece, Team Finland took on Team Sweden in a battle for fifth place at the 2023 Worlds — and a spot in Group A at next year’s tournament. Although Swedish goaltender Emma Soderberg put forth another gutsy performance, the skaters in front of her could only muster one goal to the Finns’ three. Sweden actually enjoyed a 1–0 lead for 10 minutes in the first period before Finnish captain Jenni Hiirikoski responded to tie the game; from there, Finland had the upper hand, with Kiira Yrjanen and Noora Tulus chipping in to seal the deal.

Friday’s results

Team USA 9, Team Czechia 1

Team Canada 5, Team Switzerland 1

Sunday’s games

Team Finland 3, Team Sweden 1

Team Czechia vs. Team Switzerland — 3:00 p.m. ET

Team Canada vs. Team USA — 7:00 p.m. ET

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