U.S. claims title at 4 Nations Cup
Talented Americans continue mastery over Canadian hosts in gold-medal game
Another summit meeting, this one in Saskatoon ended with a fast fall down a well-travelled mountain.
The twin powerhouses of women’s hockey, Canada and the United States, skated into a decisive finish in their Four Nations Cup women’s finale on Saturday night, with the visitors from down south handing their northern hosts a 5-2 loss.
“Make America Silver Again,” read the sign held aloft by a Team Canada fan, but the Americans clutched their pile of gold even tighter.
The USA has now beat Canada in the finals of eight consecutive international tournaments stretching back to the women’s world championship in 2015, and including the 2018 Olympics.
It was their fourth consecutive Four Nations Cup victory.
“I’m going to take it back to Princeton this year, that feeling of standing on the blue line and watching the U.S. get that trophy and get their gold medal,” said Team Canada forward Sarah Fillier, who is a student-athlete at Princeton. “There’s a lot to take back, and a lot to think about this year.”
For the Canadians, this whole routine — reach the finals of a major tournament, then lose to the Americans — is both old and frustrating. Perry Pearn, the team’s head coach, later recounted his post-game words for the players.
“I said, ‘ When you get tired of doing this, then we’ve got a chance to win,’ ” Pearn said.
“You can line up and get silver medals if you want, but if you want to win a gold medal ... you have to understand how good a team they are,” he said. “I do think we have the people in the dressing room that can be that good, but it’s a hard job to stay with it. We have to win a little bit differently than they do. Goals don’t come as easy for us as they do for them. That’s their strength. Our strength is being able to to defend, and play a more physical game. If we stick to that, we have a chance every night to beat them.”
The Americans busted up a 2-1 hockey game midway through the middle frame when Brianna Decker and Hilary Knight scored 24 seconds apart. They stretched that 4-1 edge to 5-1 in the third period before Canada’s Jaime Bourbonnais fired a zinger over the shoulder of USA goaltender Alex Rigsby.
That made it 5-2, and 5-2 it finished, with the Americans hoisting the Four Nations Cup as the Canadians watched sadly.
“We want to be able to beat them in those big games,” said Team Canada forward Natalie Spooner. “As athletes, that’s what we train for, is those big moments. Those are the ones we want to shine the brightest. It sucks. But I think we ought to learn from this, and it’s early on in the (Olympic) cycle. We need to be better.”
The Americans finished the tournament with a 4-0 record, including a 2-1 victory over Canada on Wednesday. They scored 22 goals in the tournament, while allowing just five.
Canada beat Sweden 6-1 and Finland 3-0.
“It’s nice to win, so I won’t complain about that,” said Team USA’S Hilary Knight when asked about that eternal dynamic pitting the same two countries against each other when championship time rolls around.
“It’s two duelling nations. Our NGB’S (national governing bodies) are allocating resources that maybe other teams don’t have. When we look at the broader picture, we need to really focus on the professional league level, and get that situated, and hopefully other things will fall into place on the international level.”
Knight scored twice for the Americans, who also got singles from Decker, Melissa Samoskevich, and Kendall Coyne Schofield.
Laura Fortino, and then Bourbonnais, tallied for Canada.
Shannon Szabados was pulled from the Team Canada net early in the third period after allowing her fifth goal, and Emerance Maschmeyer finished. They combined to stop 20 of 25 shots. Rigsby blocked 23 of 25 for the USA.
“Whenever these two teams get together,” said USA head coach Bob Corkum, “it’s always exciting. It can go either way. That’s how it’s been for a long time, and that’s probably how it will be for a long time.”
Finland won the bronze medal after beating Sweden 4-2 in the afternoon third-place game. The Fins nailed down the victory with three third-period goals in a span of 4:04, erasing a 2-1 deficit midway through the frame.