The Americans dominated their group in the preliminary round of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, only allowing one goal in three victories, while scoring 27 of their own. The U.S. swept past Germany (10-0), China (12-1) and Finland (5-0) to secure a semifinal match-up with Sweden. There, Team USA extended its season-long win streak to 37 games with a 4-0 shutout of the Swedes to garner a spot in the gold-medal game and a chance to defend its Olympic championship. In a closely contested title game, however, Canada prevailed by a 3-2 count.