BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Lacey Eden (Annapolis, Md.) scored a late third period goal and Skylar Vetter (Lakeville, Minn.) made 36 saves, but the U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team fell to Canada here today, 2-1, in the final preliminary round game for both teams at the 2020 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship.

Team USA finished the preliminary round with six points (2-0-0-1) and earned a bye to the semifinals where the U.S. will face Russia on Wednesday (Jan. 1) at 10:30 a.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on IIHF.com.

"It was another great battle against Canada," said Maura Crowell (Mansfield, Mass.), head coach of the 2020 U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team. "They got the faster start there, but I liked the way we settled in. I'm excited for the next one and we'll see what happens don the stretch here.”

The U.S. had some quality scoring opportunities in the opening period, but the only goal of the stanza came off the stick of Canada’s Anne Cherkowski just :20 into the contest. 

Abbey Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill.) nearly tied the game in the final seconds of the middle frame as she broke through Canadian defenders but was ultimately stopped on the doorstep by Team Canada netminder Eve Gascon. 

Canada’s Marianne Picard put Canada up 2-0 with 5:37 left in regulation. The U.S. had a power play with 1:17 left in regulation and that turned into a two-player advantage with :36 left after a second Canadian penalty was whistled.

With Vetter pulled, the U.S. got on the board with just :02 to play when Eden netted a pass from Makenna Webster (St. Louis, Mo.). 

Notes: Makenna Webster, who registered an assist and had a game-high five shots on goal, was named the U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. finished 1-for-6 on the power play, while Canada was 1-for-3 … Canada outshot the U.S. by a 38-28 count … Team USA has advanced to the semifinal round of the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship for the record 13th straight year.