Late U.S. Stumbles Send Womens Hockey Gold to Canada

It seemed more than certain that the United States women’s ice hockey team was on its way to an Olympic gold medal.

However, breaks, bounces, questionable officiating, and a determined Canadian team prevented the U.S. from attaining their first gold medal since Nagano 1998.

Marie-Philip Poulin scored on U.S. goalie Jessie Vetter 8:10 into sudden death overtime, propelling Canada to its fourth consecutive Olympic title.

"It’s an amazing moment," Poulin said about her game-winning goal, which was scored on a 5-on-3 power play. "It was a team effort tonight. We never gave up."

The Canadians received their gold medals at the Bolshoy Ice Dome from former IOC vice president Dick Pound and IOC members Anita DeFrantz and Prince Faisal of Jordan.

The U.S. ladies looked on in disbelief, knowing that they were so close to becoming Olympic champions.

"It’s an emotional journey, regardless. Win or lose, there are going to be tears," said U.S. captain Meghan Duggan, who gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead in the second period. "I’m proud of our team, and I’m proud of the way we played."

After the U.S. played 56 minutes of near-perfect hockey – holding Canada scoreless – it somehow slipped away.

Canada goals by Brianne Jenner and Poulin in a span of 2:31 sent the contest into sudden death overtime, where Poulin netted the gold medal-clinching goal.

With the U.S. leading 2-1 and 1:30 left in regulation, Canada pulled goalie Shannon Szabados for an extra skater. Ten seconds later, U.S. forward Kelli Stack sent a puck down nearly the length of the ice towards the empty net, but it hit the left post and somehow stayed out. An inch or two to the right, and the U.S. would have celebrated with gold medals.

"That would have been a game-changing moment and the story would have been different," Stack said of the near miss. "If we were meant to win gold medals, that puck would have went into the back of the net."

"I don’t think the moment was too big. We had the game in hand," said U.S. coach Katey Stone when asked why the U.S. couldn’t finish off their Canadian rivals. "That puck goes down the ice and hits the post. It could have been over then."

"They played their hearts out tonight," Stone said about her team.

Canada hasn’t lost a game in Olympic play since February of 1998, when the U.S. won gold at the inaugural ladies tournament in Nagano.

Twelve minor penalties were whistled during the game by British referee Joy Tottman. However, the three that had the greatest impact were called in the eight minutes of overtime.

First, Tottman whistled a cross-check against Canada, and then just six seconds later a questionable slashing call on the U.S. nullified man advantage.

Just over a minute later, U.S. forward Hilary Knight pulled down a Canadian forward on a breakaway and was called for cross-checking, a costly penalty that could have resulted in a penalty shot, but still, ultimately, led to Poulin’s game-winning goal.

"An unlucky call after a penalty, another unlucky call, what can you do – it sucks," said U.S. forward Jocelyne Lamoreux.

In the postgame news conference, U.S. coach Stone issued a "no comment" when asked about the officiating.

"Honestly, as a player, officiating is one of those things that you have no control over," Duggan said.

Regarding officiating of the women’s game at the Olympics, Canadian coach Kevin Dineen said, "I don’t know how much game preparation they get. On the men’s side, they see 80-100 games a year. I think they don’t get all these situations.

"At the end of it, I think the game was decided on the ice."

Despite reserving judgment about specifics of the night’s questionable officiating, Stone offered her opinion about the broader picture: "The speed of the game is tremendous. We have to make sure that every part of the game is developing as fast as the game, so we can continually put out the greatest product."

Written by Brian Pinelli

Homepage photo: Getty Images

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