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U.S. Tops Canada, 6-2, at U18 Women's Worlds

By USAHockey.com, 01/09/18, 7:30AM EST

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Five U.S. players score; Team USA clinches bye to Friday's semifinals

DMITROV, Russia -- Five players scored goals, including two from Taylor Heise (Lake City, Minn.), as the U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team earned a 6-2 victory over Canada here today in its final preliminary-round game at the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Women's World Championship.

With the victory, Team USA (2-1-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) secures the top seed from Group A and a bye to the semifinals on Friday (Jan. 12), where it will play at 7:30 a.m. ET.

“I thought we played with great energy and passion today,” said Joel Johnson, head coach of the 2018 U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team. “Earning three victories so far against three tough opponents creates great pride in our locker room. We’ve grown and gotten better every single day and look to continue that moving forward into the semifinals and medal round.”

Dominique Petrie (Beverly Hills, Calif.) gave Team USA an early 1-0 lead into play when she put home a rebound while the U.S. was on a six-on-five advantage due to a delayed penalty on Canada.

Margaret Connors tied the game for Canada with 8:16 remaining in the opening frame, and the score remained even entering the first intermission.

The U.S. regained the lead just 1:22 into the middle stanza when Casey O’Brien (Milton, Mass.) fired a centering pass from Makenna Webster (St. Louis, Mo.) past goaltender Kendra Woodland for her first goal of the tournament.

Ally Simpson (Frisco, Texas) doubled Team USA’s lead when her centering pass from behind the net banked off of Woodland and into the net at 6:19 of the second period. Just 1:10 later, Heise gathered the puck and the slot and fired a turnaround shot into the back of the net to make it 4-1.

Heise deflected a feed from Petrie on the rush with 1:59 left in the second frame to extend Team USA’s lead to 5-1 after 40 minutes.

Abbey Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill.) found the back of the net with 6:32 remaining in the game when she collected the puck at the right hash mark to deke two Canadian defenders and shoot backhanded past Woodland.

Audrey-Anne Veilette scored on a Team Canada power play with 1:13 left of play, accounting for the 6-2 final.

Lindsay Reed (New Vernon, N.J.) stopped 24 of 26 shots to earn the win in goal.

NOTES: Taylor Heise was named U.S. Player of the Game … Team USA outshot Canada, 33-26, went 0-for-7 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill … For full game statistics, click here … Reagan Carey (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey’s director of women’s hockey, is the general manager of the 2018 U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team … Joining Johnson as an associate coach is Maura Crowell (Mansfield, Mass.), head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota Duluth, while Courtney Kennedy (Woburn, Mass.), associate head women's ice hockey coach at Boston College, is serving as an assistant coach … Team USA has played in the gold-medal game in all 10 of the previous IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championships, capturing the event’s top prize six times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017). The U.S. holds an all-time record of 44-4-3-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L) in 53 games at the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship ... USA Hockey’s international council, chaired by Gavin Regan (Potsdam, N.Y.), vice president of USA Hockey, has oversight responsibilities for all U.S. teams that compete internationally.

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U.S. Schedule

Date Opponent Location Result U.S. Player of the Game
Sat., Jan. 6 Sweden
Preliminary Round
Ice Palace
Dmitrov, Russia
W (OT), 2-1 Makenna Webster
Sun., Jan. 7 Russia
Preliminary Round
Ice Palace
Dmitrov, Russia
W, 5-3 Britta Curl
Tues., Jan. 9 Canada
Preliminary Round
Ice Palace
Dmitrov, Russia
W, 6-2 Taylor Heise
Fri., Jan. 12 Canada
Semifinals
Ice Palace
Dmitrov, Russia
W (SO), 4-3 Casey O'Brien
Sat., Jan. 13 Sweden
Gold-Medal Game
Ice Palace
Dmitrov, Russia
W, 9-3 Dominique Petrie

2018 U18 Women's Worlds News