SEMIS BOUND

Team USA closed preliminary round play Wednesday night with a 2-0 victory over Sweden at Obihiro Forest Ice Arena. With the win, the U.S. (3-0-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) clinched a spot in the semifinals on Saturday (Jan. 12). 

"Tonight was a great win against a quality opponent and I’m really proud of the way our group is progressing," said Maura Crowell (Mansfield, Mass.), head coach of the 2019 U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team. "We'll enjoy this win tonight before turning our attention to preparing for Saturday’s semifinal starting tomorrow."

TOP PERFORMERS

Lacey Eden (Annapolis, Md.) opened the scoring for the U.S. by positioning herself in front of the net and tipping home a shot from Kiara Zanon (Rochester, N.Y.) to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead at 7:23. The first goal of the game for Team USA would serve as the game-winner.

Skylar Vetter (Lakeville, Minn.) recorded her first shutout of the tournament while collecting her third consecutive win. Over the course of three games, Vetter has a 1.33 GAA to go along with a .931 save percentage.

Katy Knoll (Amherst, N.Y.) scored her first goal of the tournament on Wednesday with a nice finish on a rebound to beat the Swedish goaltender. Lauren Bernard (Madison, Ohio) collected the puck near the top of the faceoff circle in the offensive zone and fired a shot on net before Knoll jumped on the rebound and fired it home to double the lead for Team USA early in the third stanza.