USA Women's Hockey

OTTAWA, Ont. – The U.S. Women's National Team captured the gold medal at the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship with a 3-2 victory over Canada here tonight. Amanda Kessel (Madison, Wis.) scored the game-winning goal in the third period and Team USA finished with a 4-0-1-0 record to secure its fourth gold medal in the last five world championships and fifth overall in tournament history.

"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.

NOTES: Amanda Kessel was named U.S. Player of the Game ... Kessel, Brianna Decker and Jessie Vetter were named the top-three players for Team USA ... Decker was named to the media all-star team. She tied for the tournament lead with six goals, while totaling eight points to tie for second along with Kessel ... The U.S. was 1-for-6 on the power play, while Canada was 1-for-3 ... FASTHockey offered live streaming of all games during the 2013 IIHF Women's World Championship ... All U.S. tournament content can be found at womensworlds.usahockey.com ... Members of the U.S. Women's National Team range in age from 18-31. Lee Stecklein is the youngest player, while Julie Chu is the oldest ... Team USA has won four gold medals and 10 silvers in the 14 previous IIHF Women's World Championships. The U.S. has won four of the last five world championships (2008, 2009, 2011, 2013) ... Joining Katey Stone as assistant coaches for the tournament were Hilary Witt and Bobby Jay ... Robb Stauber served as the goaltending coach and scout, while Bret Hedican was the video coach.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

First Period - Scoring: 1, CAN, Birchard (Ouellette, Poulin), 9:50. Penalties: CAN, Larocque (interference), 14:15; USA, Duggan (cross checking), 15:30; USA, Bozek (slashing), 17:01.

Second Period - Scoring: 2, USA, Decker (Coyne), 2:43; 3, USA, Bozek (Schleper, Coyne), 14:26 (5x3pp); 4, CAN, Ouellette (Ward, Poulin), 17:50 (pp). Penalties: CAN, Bonhomme (hooking), 4:55; CAN, Larocque (high sticking), 9:52; CAN, Johnston (body checking), 13:03; CAN, Wickenheiser (elbowing), 13:56; USA, Decker (body checking), 17:43.

Third Period - Scoring: 5, USA, Kessel (Marvin, Vetter), 3:09. Penalties: CAN, Larocque (hooking), 11:48.

Power Play: USA 1-6; CAN 1-3
Penalties: USA 3-6; CAN 6-12
Officials: Referee-Nicole Hertrich (GER); Linesmen-Ilona Novotna (CZE), Zuzana Svobodova-Arazimova (CZE)
Attendance: 13,776

Brianna Decker - Media All-Star Team, Top-Three U.S. Player

Amanda Kessel - Top-Three U.S. Player

Jessie Vetter - Top-Three U.S. Player