HAMEENLINNA, Finland – Natalie Darwitz (Eagan, Minn.) and Hilary Knight (Hanover, N.H.) each scored three times and Jessie Vetter (Cottage Grove, Wis.) turned aside all 16 shots in leading the U.S. Women's National Team to a 7-0 shutout victory over Finland here tonight in the qualifying round of the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championship at the Patria Arena.

With the win, Team USA improved to 3-0-0-0 in the tournament and will close out the qualifying round tomorrow against Canada (7 p.m. local/12 p.m. EDT) in a preview of the gold-medal game, as both teams already secured spots in the title game for a 12th consecutive time.

"It was a great victory," said Team USA Head Coach Mark Johnson, who is also the head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin. "I'm excited for the team and the opportunity to play Canada tomorrow and again on Sunday for a world championship. We talked about what we wanted to do and the players went out and executed."

The United States, which has yet to allow a goal in the tournament, gained a 2-0 advantage in the first period and followed it up with a three-goal second frame and an additional pair of tallies in the final stanza for the 7-0 score.

Knight used a scramble in front of the Finnish net to put Team USA up 1-0 in first period, as she pushed the puck past Maija Hassinen's stick at 9:21. The Americans doubled their lead at the 15:33 mark when Gigi Marvin (Warroad, Minn.) stole the puck at Finland's blue line while down a player, skated in on the net and deked Hassinen to the left post.

Darwitz scored consecutive goals in the middle frame to increase the U.S. lead to 4-0. Her first came at 12:36 when she skated through the left faceoff circle and put a hard wrister high stick side from the slot. Then, at 16:01, while Team USA held a 5-on-3 advantage, Darwitz struck again, this time after receiving a cross-crease pass from Caitlin Cahow (Branford, Conn.). Knight then potted her second goal of the game with just :49 left in the period, as her low slap shot from the mid-slot found its way through Hassinen's legs to give the United States a 5-0 advantage heading into the final stanza.

Both Darwitz and Knight completed their hat tricks in the third period. Darwitz scored at 11:32 with a backhanded shot from the top of the crease, then Knight finished off her second hat trick of the tournament on the power play at 15:26, as she collected her own rebound twice in front of the net and put the second one past Hassinen to account for the 7-0 final score.

NOTES: Team USA was 2-for-6 on the power play, while holding Finland scoreless on eight opportunities ... The U.S. held a 32-16 shots advantage ... Natalie Darwitz was named U.S. Player of the Game, while Hilary Knight was selected as the most skilled U.S. player ... Darwitz's hat trick was her third in an IIHF World Women's Championship, with her first two coming in 2004 ... Coverage of the 2009 IIHF World Women's Championship can be found on USAHockey.com, as well as on the U.S. Women's National Team's Facebook page and on USA Hockey's Twitter page.  ... Team USA has won two gold medals and nine silvers in the 11 previous IIHF World Women’s Championships. The U.S. has won two of the last three world championships (2005, 2008) … Mark Johnson will serve as the head coach for Team USA through the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C. Joining Johnson on the coaching staff as assistant coaches at the 2009 IIHF World Women's Championship are Dave Flint, head women’s ice hockey coach at Northeastern University, and Jodi McKenna, head women’s ice hockey coach at Wesleyan University.