U.S. Women Settle For Silver In Hockey World Championship Battle

Kendall Coyne Schofield competes during the women's preliminary round against Team Finland at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on Feb. 3, 2022 in Beijing.

Canada’s women’s hockey team extended its gold medal-winning streak against the U.S. on Sunday.
The Canadians defended their 2021 world championship, defeating the U.S. 2-1 in the title game of the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Herning, Denmark.
Although the Americans overcame a two-goal deficit in their preliminary round game against Canada to win 5-2, they were unable to do it a second time after Canada’s Brianne Jenner scored twice in 84 seconds midway through the game.
“This isn’t the job we came here to get done,” said U.S. team captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, whose 41st career assist on the U.S. goal broke an American women’s world championship record. “We obviously wanted to leave here with a gold medal and we didn’t, so we’re gonna have to reflect on that. Sometimes, defeat and adversity, you can use that to flip a script.”
The victory earned Canada its third straight global championship. The Canadians defeated the U.S. last August in Calgary for the 2021 world championship and also in the gold-medal game in February at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.
“They’ve got that winning pedigree,” U.S. coach John Wroblewski said of Canada, “one that we’re just off of a degree on right now and one that we’re trying to try to gain on the fly with some really nice young players. The future is bright for our group and I’m really proud to be their coach.”
The U.S., which won its 12th silver medal at the worlds, has won gold or silver in every world championship dating back to 1990.
After a fast-paced preliminary round game in which the U.S. and Canada combined for 19 shots in the first period, the championship game started more tentatively. The best U.S. scoring opportunity came when Alex Carpenter rang a shot off the crossbar.
After falling behind 2-0, the U.S. cut the deficit in half at the end of the second period with a power play goal from Abby Roque, her fifth goal of the tournament. Amanda Kessel picked up a loose puck above the left faceoff circle, and drew the attention of three Canadian defenders and the goalie. Her pass went across the top of the crease to Roque, who one-timed the puck into the net. It was Kessel’s 11th assist in the tournament.

(L-R) Kelly Pannek, Amanda Kessel, Alex Carpenter and Jesse Compher look on from the bench during the women's ice hockey gold-medal match against Team Canada at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on Feb. 17, 2022 in Beijing.

Coyne Schofield had the second assist on the goal, setting a new American women's world championship record for most career assists with 41.
Team USA had a number of chances to tie the game in the third period, but was unable to bury a loose puck near the net.
Wroblewski brought goalie Nicole Hensley to the bench for an extra attacker with 2 minutes, 39 seconds left in the game. He then took a timeout with 1:25 to go to talk out the final plan and give players a chance to rest. The U.S. was not able to even the score.
A flurry in the waning seconds saw Coyne Schofield get three shots at close range. Canada goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens said after the game she just knew she had to get something in front of the puck.
“I think we played a heck of a hockey game,” Coyne Schofield said. “I think at the end of the day, we ran out of time.”
Coyne Schofield was named the U.S. player of the game and teammate Taylor Heise was named tournament MVP and IIHF Directorate Best Forward. Kessel and Caroline Harvey were also named to the tournament team and Hensley was named Directorate Best Goaltender.
“Our young players are getting to learn on the fly right now,” Wroblewski said. “What they just did out there is going to be pivotal for their careers. All that experience that they just logged in this event, they’re going to look back at it and hopefully this makes them hungrier for the next year.”
The U.S. won five of its six games in the tournament and outscored its opponents, 53-7.