USA Women's Hockey

ZLIN, Czech Republic -- Haley Skarupa (Rockville, Md.) scored her second hat trick in as many days to lead the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team to a 7-0 victory over Sweden in its second preliminary-round game of the 2012 IIHF Women's World U18 Championship.

"In the first five minutes of the game, we wanted to dictate play and get them back on their heels," said Heather Linstad, head coach of the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team. "The first three lines went over the boards and had great energy. Sweden put some great pressure on us, but I thought we came out fast in the first 10 minutes of the game and set the tone."

Team USA captain Alex Carpenter (North Reading, Mass.) put the U.S. on the board with a backhand shot at 9:38 of the first period. Dana Trivigno (Setauket, N.Y.) added to the U.S. lead when she deflected a shot from the blue line under Sweden netminder Jessica Hjorth's glove to earn a power-play marker at 11:54. Skarupa fired a wristshot from the right crease for her fourth goal of the tournament, giving the U.S. a three-goal lead at the end of the opening frame.

After a scoreless second period, Skarupa struck for her second goal of the game on a rebound at 1:41 of the third period. Anne Pankowski (Laguna Hills, Calif.) scored back-to-back goals, the first coming at 9:34 on the power play and the second at 16:04. Skarupa secured the win with her third goal to complete her second hat trick in two days.

Brianna Laing (Marblehead, Mass.) stopped all 10 shots to earn the shutout in the U.S. victory, while Hjorth made 49 saves for Sweden.

Team USA, which holds a 2-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) overall record, will play its third preliminary-round game of the 2012 IIHF Women's World U18 Championship Tuesday (Jan. 3) against the Czech Republic at 1 p.m. EST.

NOTES: Anne Pankowski was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... Haley Skarupa, Dana Trivigno and Paige Savage lead the tournament in scoring with six points ... The U.S. went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Sweden went 0-for-2 with the man advantage ... Team USA recorded 56 shots on goal, while Sweden had 10 ... Alex Carpenter is Team USA's captain ... The IIHF U18 Women's World Championship, being played for the fifth time, includes teams from Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States ... Team USA captured gold in each of the first two years of the tournament (2008, 2009) as well as last season (2011). In 2010, the team took home the silver medal ... Heather Linstad, head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Connecticut, is the head coach of the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team for the 2011-12 season. She is assisted by Joel Johnson and Hilary Witt ... To follow the team in the Czech Republic, check out the U.S. Women's National Program blog by clicking here ... Post-game video interviews can be found by clicking here.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Carpenter (Kennedy-Menefee, Pankowski), 9:38; 2, USA, Trivigno (Stecklein, Kennedy-Menefee), 11:54 (pp); 3, USA, Skarupa (Savage, Trivigno), 18:26. Penalties: SWE, Lindberg (tripping), 4:19; SWE, Backlin (delay of game), 4:31; SWE, Carlsson (hooking), 10:20; USA, Cameranesi (slashing), 12:05.

Second Period - No Scoring. Penalties: SWE, Ekstrom (tripping), 7:37; USA, LaShomb (holding the stick), 11:25.

Third Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Skarupa (Savage, Trivigno), 1:41; 5, USA, Pankowski (Burke), 9:34 (pp); 6, USA Pankowski (Carpenter), 16:104; 7, USA, Skarupa (Savage), 16:13. Penalties: SWE, Lindberg (tripping), 19:22.

 
Power Play: USA 1-4; SWE 0-2
Penalties: USA 2-4; SWE 4-8