Canada edges U.S. in OT for gold at Women’s Worlds
Danielle Serdachny converted a rebound in front 5:16 into overtime for a power-play goal and Canada beat the United States 6-5 on Sunday in a breathtaking women’s world hockey championship gold medal game.
Canada won its tournamentleading 13th gold medal and did so on U.S. soil in central New York, a year after the Americans won their 10th tournament outside of Toronto.
Canadian captain Marie-philip Poulin scored twice, Julia Gosling also scored, while Erin Ambrose and Emily Clark had shots bank into the net off U.S. defenseman Caroline Harvey. Ann-renee Desbiens finished with 19 saves, including kicking out her left skate to stop Harvey’s wrap-around attempt 2:40 into the overtime.
Harvey and Laila Edwards had a goal and assist for the Americans who finished the tournament 6-1. Hilary Knight, Megan Keller and Alex Carpenter also scored for the U.S.
Serdachny’s goal came with 2 seconds left in a too-many-players penalty issued to the U.S. Erin Ambrose’s shot from the left circle was stopped by Aerin Frankel, before Serdachny swept the loose puck into the net.
Frankel, who set the single tournament record with four shutouts, finished with 24 saves.
The neighboring nations and women’s global powers showed once again why their rivalry is regarded as the fiercest and most intense in sports.
This marked the 10th time in 36 world championship meetings the teams played beyond regulation, and first in a gold-medal game since Poulin sealed a 3-2 OT victory in 2021. It also marked the highest-scoring game between the U.S. and Canada in any meeting since the Americans’ 7-5 win in the 2015 world championship gold-medal game.
Earlier in the day, Petra Nieminen scored the decisive shootout goal, and Finland defeated the Czech Republic 3-2 to win its 14th bronze medal — and first since 2021.