Last year, Brampton, Ontario, was the battleground where Team Canada lost the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) Women’s World Championship gold-medal game to the United States.
The worst part was that the US beat us on our turf!
Instead of brooding over the loss, our women’s hockey team spent the last year training to take back the gold medal.
After all, revenge is best served cold, and that dish was finally served on Sunday in Utica, New York, where Canada earned a gold medal win over the US at the women’s hockey worlds on their turf!
Canada won 6-5 in overtime against the Americans in a high-octane game that left fans on the edge of their seats for over 65 minutes.
Opened With the Lead and Ended With the Win!
Canada’s Erin Ambrose opened the match with a long shot that hit the back of the US net, a lead that wouldn’t last long.
Two minutes later, Laila Edwards buried a shot past Canadian goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens, bringing the score to 1-1.
At the start of the second period, Canada’s Julia Gosling launched the puck under US goaltender Aerin Frankel’s glove.
The US quickly brought it back by scoring twice in less than six minutes for a 3-2 lead.
But Canada’s captain, Marie-Philip Poulin, tied the game with just over a minute left.
This back-and-forth continued for the rest of the game, with goals from Canada’s Emily Clark and Poulin in the third period bringing the score to 5-5 heading into overtime.
The golden goal that closed the match was earned by Edmonton’s Danielle Serdachny, who scored on a power play 5:16 into overtime.
A shot from Erin Ambrose rebounded off Frankel’s pad and set the stage for Serdachny’s game-winning goal.
In an instant, Serdachny seized the opportunity to backhand the stray puck into the net with two seconds left in the power play to end the game 6-5 for Canada.
“I just tried to take the goalie’s eyes away there, and the rebound kind of popped right to me, so bit of a lucky one, I’d say, but just tried to get everything into it,” Serdachny told The Canadian Press.
The Rivalry Continues
The match was neck-in-neck, with neither team able to build more than a one-point lead. Both teams played incredibly well, but Canada skated away victorious.
Every player on Team Canada shone during the gold medal match, but Serdachny and Poulin were pivotal to the team’s success.
Poulin had a slow start heading into the tournament. She suffered an undisclosed injury that saw her miss three Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) Montreal games and Canada’s pre-tournament match against Finland.
But in Canada’s match against the US, Poulin earned her first two goals of the tournament and reminded us why she is called “Captain Clutch.”
The 33-year-old earned her nickname by scoring gold medal-winning goals in two Winter Games and the 2021 World Championships – each time against the US.
“[Poulin]will always find a way to be a difference maker. There’s very few athletes in the world that can perform in a pressure situation like she can,” said Team Canada head coach Troy Ryan.
The US team reflected on its loss as Team Canada celebrated its latest goal medal win.
“We were served a lesson tonight on that. And we’ll see if we can bank it and make our players appreciate what that lesson was,” said US coach John Wroblewski.
The rivalry between the Canada and the US women’s teams is fierce. They have met 36 times at the world championships and are tied with 18 victories each. However, Canada now leads 104-103 in goals scored. We’ll take that win!
Their latest match was the highest-scoring game between the two teams since the Americans’ 7-5 win at the 2015 World Championships gold medal match.
“The longer you stick around, the rivalry just continues to develop. It’s fun to be a part of. A little more fun when you’re on the winning side,” said US defender Megan Keller.
The stage is already set for the 2025 Women’s World Hockey Championship, set to be held in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
Will Canada and the US continue their rivalry next year?
We hope so; the games always seem to be nail-biters!
