USA TODAY International Edition

U.S. women get another shot at gold

- Kevin Allen

GANGNEUNG, South Korea – The U.S. women’s hockey team will attempt to end Canada’s 16-year hold on the Olympic gold medal when the teams meet Thursday in the final (11:10 p.m. ET Wednesday, NBC Sports Network).

Since the USA won the first Olympic women’s tournament in Nagano, Japan, in 1998, Canada has won four consecutiv­e gold medals.

Here is what the USA must do to win: Score ugly: The U.S. team averages almost 44 shots a game but has scored 14 goals. No puck luck. Coach Robb Stauber has been stressing that the Americans need to concentrat­e on “screens, tips and deflection­s” to push the puck through defenders who are packed in front of the net.

Memorable Knight: Usually highperfor­ming U.S. forward Hilary Knight has one goal and Brianna Decker doesn’t have any. No better time to have an offensive explosion by two premium players.

Targeted defense: Four players — Meghan Agosta, Rebecca Johnston, Marie-Phillip Poulin and Melanie Daoust — have combined for 10 of Canada’s 16 goals. The Americans know who they must shut down.

Net presence: This is the one game in the tournament when U.S. No. 1 goalie Maddie Rooney has to be among the USA’s best players. She will need a handful of key saves for the Americans to win.

Play with confidence: Forget about 2014 when the Americans squandered a two-goal lead and lost in overtime. The remarkable aspect of USA’s disappoint­ing Olympic history is that the Americans have won seven of the past eight World Championsh­ips. They know what must be done to beat Canada.

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