ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The U.S. women earned a 4-1 victory over Canada here tonight in front of a sellout crowd at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube in a game prior to the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championship.
The U.S. squad was made up of 20 of the 30 players vying for a spot on the U.S. Women's National Team, while Canada was skating with its final 21-player tournament roster. The 21-player U.S. Women's National Team roster that will compete in the 2011 IIHF World Women's Championship will be announced tomorrow (April 9) via USAHockey.com at 10 a.m. EDT.
The U.S. jumped out to a 1-0 lead just :45 into the game when Monique Lamoureux-Kolls(Grand Forks, N.D.) beat Canadian netminder Kim St-Pierre with a high shot from the top of the slot. Jen Schoullis (Erie, Pa.) made it a 2-0 game in the last second of a U.S. power play when she knocked in Jenny Potter's (Edina, Minn.) rebound at 15:44. The Americans outshot the Canadians three-fold in the opening frame, holding a 15-5 advantage.
In the closing seconds of the middle stanza, during the Americans' third power-play opportunity of the period, Lamoureux-Kolls corralled a cleared puck in her own zone and sent a long pass through the neutral zone to Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.). Decker skated in on new Canadian goaltender Charline Labonte and scored with a backhanded shot at 19:52 to put the U.S. up 3-0.
Canada scored on the power play at 1:21 of the third period, before the U.S. closed out scoring at 10:59 with a Gigi Marvin (Warroad, Minn.) wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle.
Jessie Vetter (Cottage Grove, Wis.) and Molly Schaus (Natick, Mass.) combined for 28 saves in the winning effort.
NOTES: The U.S. was 2-for-7 on the power play, while successfully killing off all eight of Canada's power play opportunities ... Team USA outshot Canada, 33-29... USA Hockey is currently holding a U.S. Women's National Team selection/training camp in Ann Arbor, Mich., with a total of 30 players. The preliminary roster includes 16 Olympians, 15 of whom captured the world title with Team USA in 2009 ... At the last IIHF World Women's Championship, which took place in Hameenlinna, Finland, in 2009, the U.S. defeated Canada, 4-1, in the gold-medal game to earn its second straight world title ... The U.S. has captured three gold medals (2005, 2008, 2009) and nine silvers (1990, 1992, 1994,1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007) in the 12 previous IIHF World Women’s Championships. Follow @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for live scoring updates during all international events... Find USA Hockey on Facebook at Facebook.com/USAHockey and Twitter atTwitter.com/USAHockey.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring By Period
USA 2 1 1 -- 4
CAN 0 0 1 -- 1
First Period - Scoring: 1, Lamoureux-Kolls (Stack), :45; 2, USA, Schoullis (Potter), 15:44 (pp). Penalties: USA, Lamoureus-Kolls (body checking), 4:19; CAN, Ouellette (hooking), 10:15; USA, Decker (holding), 10:50; CAN, Watchorn (body checking), 13:45.
Second Period - Scoring: 3, USA, Decker (Lamoureux-Kolls), 19:52 (pp). Penalties: USA, Lamoureux (hooking), 1:50; USA, Decker (high sticking), 8:43; CAN, Mikkelson (hooking), 12:31; CAN, Watchorn (tripping), 13:34; USA, Stack (roughing), 15:14; CAN, Vaillancourt (roughing), 15:14; CAN, Apps (tripping), 18:44.
Third Period - Scoring: 4, CAN, Mikkelson (Wakefield, Ouellette), 1:21 (pp); 5, USA, Marvin (Bellamy), 10:59. Penalties: USA, Team (delay of game), :00; CAN, Larocque (body checking), 4:29; USA, Pucci (tripping), 7:33; CAN, Vaillancourt (high sticking), 11:49; USA, Lamoureux (body checking), 16:24; USA, Ruggiero (interference), 17:29.
Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 15 11 7 33
CAN 5 7 17 29
Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Vetter, 30:28 5-5 6-6 x-x 11-11
USA, Schaus, 29:32 x-x 1-1 17-16 18-17
CAN, St-Pierre, 30:28 15-13 3-3 x-x 18-16
CAN, Labonte, 29:32 x-x 8-7 7-6 15-13
Power Play:USA 2-7; CAN 0-8
Penalties: USA 9-18; CAN 8-16
Officials: Referee-Tara Leighton; Linesmen-Jackie Spresser, Alisha Hannahan
Attendance: 687
Tag(s): 2011
