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Women’s Worlds Semifinals Recap: Canada, USA advance to battle for gold

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
Sep 4, 2022, 06:30 EDTUpdated: Sep 4, 2022, 05:04 EDT
Women’s Worlds Semifinals Recap: Canada, USA advance to battle for gold

Even after such a competitive tournament full of surprises and underdog success stories, it’s only fitting Team USA will face Team Canada for gold at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship.

The two national teams have both reached the championship final in 20 of the first 21 editions of the tournament, with the lone exception being when the Americans defeated Team Finland in 2019.

But beyond the top two teams, the competition has been wide open at the 2022 Worlds, with the six other teams that advanced to the knockout rounds all on relatively even footing.

Team Switzerland will compete in the bronze-medal game for only the fourth time, having previously won in 2012. Their opponent, Team Czechia, has never even played for a spot on the podium.

Saturday’s action saw both Team USA and Team Canada advance to the gold-medal game in blowout fashion. We’ll focus more on the Canada/Switzerland game here before getting into the other contests in the “snap shots” section.

Team Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin led the way with a pair of goals and an assist in an 8–1 victory over the Swiss in the semifinals. Poulin fired seven of her team’s 56 shots and earned “player of the game” honors for her performance.

Both of Poulin’s goals came in the third period to help the Canadians seal the deal — particularly important after Swiss forward Lara Christen made it a 4–1 game midway through the second. Poulin first scored just 1:17 into the final frame to restore Team Canada’s four-goal cushion; her second tally came less than four minutes later to make it 7–1.

Kristin O’Neill, Jessie Eldridge, Brianne Jenner, Sarah Fillier, Sarah Nurse, and Emily Clark also scored for Team Canada in the lopsided victory.

Nurse’s goal was only her second of the 2022 Worlds and her first point since Team Canada’s very first game — remember, her first goal was also the Canadians’ first of the tournament. The 27-year-old forward will undoubtedly be a player (arguably the player) to watch against Team USA on Sunday.

Team Canada goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped five of the six Swiss shots she faced on Saturday. She’s a safe bet to get the start against the Americans, especially after her light workload in the semis.

Snap shots

  • Hilary Knight. Taylor Heise. Amanda Kessel. All the usual suspects powered Team USA to a dominant 10–1 win over Team Czechia in the semifinals, and it’s hard not to consider the Americans the favorites heading into Sunday’s gold-medal game. Heise and Kessel have been absolutely piling up the points, combining for 13 goals and 34 points through the first six games of the tournament; meanwhile, Knight is a living legend and the greatest scorer in Women’s Worlds history. Heise dominated on Saturday with a pair of goals (on two shots!) and three assists, while Kessel managed a hat trick and a helper in just 11:49 of total ice time.
  • Team Hungary has officially placed eighth at the 2022 Worlds after a 3–2 overtime loss to the Finns on Saturday, but how impressive is it that they managed to play a consistent medal contender to a tie through 60 minutes? Regina Metzler and Alexandra Huszak scored to help the Hungarians erase a 2–0 deficit and force the extra frame, but Elisa Holopainen ultimately netted the game-winner to punch Team Finland’s ticket to the fifth-place game. Still … Team Hungary. What a story. We can’t wait to see more from the Hungarians at tournaments to come.
  • Team Japan fought back from being down 3–0 to Team Sweden in the first period to win 5–4 on Saturday. Haruka Toko scored twice for Team Japan, which came away with the W despite being outshot 36–28 in the contest. Remi Koyama broke a 4–4 deadlock with just 2:48 remaining in regulation to win the game for her team, which will face Team Finland on Sunday in a battle to remain in Group A for next year’s tournament.

September 3 Results

Semifinals

Team USA 10, Team Czechia 1

Team Canada 8, Team Switzerland 1

Placement games

Team Finland 3, Team Hungary 2 (OT)

Team Japan 5, Team Sweden 4

September 4 Schedule

Fifth-place game

Team Japan vs. Team Finland — 5:00 a.m. ET

Bronze-medal game

Team Switzerland vs. Team Czechia — 9:00 a.m. ET

Gold-medal game

Team USA vs. Team Canada — 1:30 p.m. ET

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