"We played a determined style of hockey tonight," said Katey Stone, head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team. "We really showed up and played great, and it paid off - I'm extremely proud of our team."
The U.S. battled hard in the first period, putting up 12 shots to Canada's eight, but the Canadians scored the lone tally of the frame. Courtney Birchard skated the puck into the U.S. zone, wound up and took a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that beat a screened Jessie Vetter (Cottage Grove, Wis.) high to the near side at 9:50.
Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.) tied the game at 1-1 midway through the second frame on a partial breakaway in which she drove to the net, cut across the crease and tucked it under Canadian netminder Shannon Szabados' outstretched arm. The United States continued to outwork Canada in the period and drew four consecutive penalties, including a two-man advantage that lasted only 30 seconds before Megan Bozek (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) took a feed from Anne Schleper (St. Cloud, Minn.) at the left point and powered a slap shot past the Canadian goaltender to take a 2-1 lead. Canada evened the score on a power-play tally by Caroline Ouellette, who wired a shot through traffic past a screened Vetter at 18:50.
Kessel gave Team USA the lead in the third period after skating down the right side and firing a wrist shot from the faceoff circle over Szabados' glove at 3:09. The U.S outshot Canada by a 30-16 margin en route to victory.
