VIERUMAKI, Finland – Six different players scored for the U.S. Women's National Team en route to a 9-0 shutout victory over Sweden here tonight in a pre-tournament game prior to the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championship, which begins Saturday (April 4) in Hameenlinna, Finland.
Natalie Darwitz (Eagan, Minn.), Jocelyne Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) and Hilary Knight (Hanover, N.H.) each scored twice, while all three U.S. goaltenders - Molly Schaus (Natick, Mass.), Megan Van Beusekom (Loretto, Minn.) and Jessie Vetter(Cottage Grove, Wis.) - combined for the shutout in net.
Team USA opens world championship play on Saturday against Japan at 5 p.m. (10 a.m. EDT).
"This was a good way to prepare us for the start of the tournament," said Team USA Head Coach Mark Johnson, who is also the head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin. "A lot of good things happened out there and now we need to carry it over and build momentum into the world championship."
Team USA dominated the opening frame, posting a 28-1 advantage in shots and jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Monique Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) put the U.S. on the scoreboard at the 7:23 mark when she streaked across the blue line into the offensive zone, wound up and put a slap shot past Swedish netminder Sara Grahn. Team USA doubled its lead at 11:11 on a tip from Jocelyne Lamoureux off a shot by Kacey Bellamy (Westfield, Mass.).
In the final 1:30 of play in the period, Julie Chu (Fairfield, Conn.) and Knight each netted a goal to make it 4-0. Chu flipped in a rebound in front of the net at 18:30, followed by Knight putting one in the open right side of the net after receiving a feed from Jenny Potter (Edina, Minn.) at 19:38.
At 3:18 of the second frame, Stack found Jocelyne Lamoureux on the doorstep for a one-timer to give the U.S. a five-goal advantage. Darwitz extended the lead further with a pair of goals in a :36 span, first at 12:33, then at 13:09. Knight capped off the period's scoring less than a minute later when she put a slap shot just under the crossbar from the left faceoff circle at 13:54 for an 8-0 count.
Meghan Duggan (Danvers, Mass.) closed out the scoring just :18 into the final stanza during a U.S. 5-on-3 advantage to account for the 9-0 final score.
NOTES: Team USA was 1-for-8 on the power play, while Sweden was 0-for-1 with the man advantage ... The U.S. outshot Sweden by a 57-7 count ... Coverage of the 2009 IIHF World Women's Championship can be found on USAHockey.com, as well as on the U.S. Women's National Team's Facebook page and on USA Hockey's Twitter page ... Team USA has won two gold medals and nine silvers in the 11 previous IIHF World Women’s Championships. The U.S. has won two of the last three world championships (2005, 2008) … Mark Johnson will serve as the head coach for Team USA through the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C. Joining Johnson on the coaching staff as assistant coaches at the 2009 IIHF World Women's Championship are Dave Flint, head women’s ice hockey coach at Northeastern University, and Jodi McKenna, head women’s ice hockey coach at Wesleyan University.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring By Period
USA 4 4 1 -- 9
SWE 0 0 0 -- 0
First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, M.Lamoureux (unassisted), 7:23; 2, USA, J.Lamoureux (Bellamy, Ruggiero), 11:11; 3, USA, Chu (Chesson, Lawler), 18:30; 4, USA, Knight (Potter, M.Lamoureux), 19:38. Penalties: SWE, Team (too many players), 8:46.
Second Period - Scoring: 5, USA, J.Lamoureux (Stack), 3:18; 6, USA, Darwitz (Chu, Lawler), 12:33; 7, USA, Darwitz (Lawler, Chu), 13:09; 8, USA, Knight (Potter), 13:54. Penalties: SWE, Eliasson (slashing), 3:50; SWE, Myren (hooking), 17:09; USA, Potter (hooking), 17:59; SWE, Ostberg (slashing), 19:03; SWE, Andersson (body checking), 19:03.
Third Period - Scoring: 9, USA, Duggan (Cahow, Ruggiero), :18 (5x3pp). Penalties: SWE, Holst (high-sticking), 3:00; SWE, Rundqvist (slashing), 4:29; USA, Resor (tripping), 5:14; SWE, Timglas (interference), 19:13.
Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 28 21 8 57
SWE 1 2 4 7
Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Vetter, 20:00 1-1 x-x x-x 1-1
USA, Schaus, 20:00 x-x 2-2 x-x 2-2
USA, Van Beusekom, 20:00 x-x x-x 4-4 4-4
SWE, Grahn, 40:00 28-24 21-17 x-x 49-41
SWE, Lizana, 20:00 x-x x-x 8-7 8-7
Power Play: USA 1-8; SWE 0-1
Penalties: USA 2-4; SWE 8-16
Tag(s): 2009
