ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Hayley Scamurra (Getzville, N.Y.) tallied Team USA's lone goal as the U.S. Women's National Team fell 3-1 to Canada here tonight at PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., in the opener of the My Why Tour, presented by Toyota.
“I couldn’t have been prouder of our overall group effort,” said Joel Johnson, head coach of the 2021 U.S. Women’s National Team. “Obviously as a professional organization you don’t settle for losses but I was pleased with how we played. We’re going to learn from the things we can and move on and look forward to Monday.”
The U.S. got off to a quick start with a shot from Dani Cameranesi (Plymouth, Minn.) but Canada slowed the U.S. down through the next five minutes. Team USA was then able to rattle off five-straight shots within the following two minutes, highlighted by Kendall Coyne Schofield (Palos Heights, Ill.) with back-to-back looks on net, including a point-blank rebound opportunity that Canadian netminder Emerance Maschmeyer blocked away.
Team Canada's Sarah Fillier converted on a power-play opportunity with just over six minutes to play in the opening period to give Canada a 1-0 lead headed into intermission.
Team USA was in control in the middle frame, allowing just one shot on goal through 17 minutes of play. Strong defensive play also brought opportunities for the U.S. offensively, drawing two penalties just minutes apart.
The offense kept pushing as Megan Keller (Farmington, Mich.) sent the puck to Caroline Harvey (Salem, N.H.), who sent a blast on goal. Scamurra was on the doorstep and buried the rebound to tie the game at one more than halfway through the frame, which is how the middle period finished.
Team Canada's Emily Clark broke the tie a little over five minutes into the third period. Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.) got behind the Canadian defense off a turnover and put the puck on net but Maschmeyer made the save to keep its lead. The U.S. continued its strong play defensively as it only allowed four shots through most of the frame.
The U.S. pulled goaltender Alex Cavallini (Delafield, Wis.) with a minute left for an extra attacker, but couldn’t covert. Canada scored into an empty net to account for the 3-1 final.
Cavallini started in net for the U.S., stopping 16 shots.
The U.S. continues the My Why Tour, presented by Toyota, Monday (Oct. 25) against Canada at XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Faceoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET and the game will be televised live by NHL Network.
NOTES: The U.S. outshot Canada, 29-19… Team USA was 1-3 on the power play, while Team Canada was 1-4… For more information about the My Why Tour, presented by Toyota, click here.