Canada Victorious in Potential Gold Medal Preview

(ATR) Canada defeated the United States in the women’s ice hockey round robin, though the fierce rivals could meet again for the gold medal.

"It hurts," Amanda Kessel of Team USA said after the 3-2 loss. "In the Olympics every game matters and you want to win every one. So I’m not happy, but hopefully we’re going to have another crack at them."

The Canadians trailed 1-0 in front of a nearly full house at Shayba Arena before scoring three straight goals in the third period Wednesday. The U.S. closed the gap to 3-2 with 1:05 remaining.

Canada was then penalized for too many players on the ice, but the U.S. could not score with the six-on-four advantage.

Canada will hold the number 1 seed in the knockout round next week, while the U.S. will enter ranked second. Both teams will receive a bye until the semi-finals.

They are the only two teams to win the Olympic gold medal. The U.S. won in 1998 in Nagano, while Canada won in Salt Lake City, Torino, and Vancouver.

Hilary Knight of the U.S. says when the two teams play, "the sharks are out, the blood’s in the water and everyone wants to get the job done."

In their pre-Olympic match-ups, Canada won the first three games, then the U.S. won the final four. Two of those games included brawls between the players.Kessel said of her team Wednesday, "I don’t think we came out with the same fire."

During the game there was some shoving , but nothing of consequence. However, Canada’s second goal was controversial. U.S. players thought they heard a whistle and stopped playing. The U.S. protested, but officials reviewed the goal and it stood.

"I just got up and celebrated when the puck crossed the line," Wickenheiser said. "It doesn’t matter how they go in; sometimes it’s an ugly one. It’s one we really needed to have and fortunately it went our way today."

The arena, which was named for the Russian word for "puck" and designed in its image, was packed with U.S. and Canadian flags and fans. Members ofthe U.S. and Canadian men’s hockey teams, including Sidney Crosby, were in the stands.

One Russian shouted "Shaybu," the traditional chant of encouragement.

He could have been yelling "Happy Birthday" to Meghan Agosta, who scored two goals for Canada.

"It gives us a psychological lift," Agosta said. "Our confidence couldn’t be higher."

Meanwhile, the U.S., which had defeated Finland 3-1 and Switzerland 9-0, needs to regroup.

"We’ve done a lot of good things, so it’s really important now to not let the wheels come off the bus," said defenseman Julie Chu. "We can go and we can panic, but that’s not where we are right now."

Written by Karen Rosen

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