Good As Gold

Amazing how things can change over time. Four years ago. the United States Women's Hockey Team had blown a two goal lead in the gold medal game against Canada in Souchi Russia. This time around, in Pyeongchang, the shoe was on the other foot. Canada failed to hold a lead. It had to go to a shootout but Team USA walked away with the gold medal on the strength of the 3-2 shootout win. It was the 2nd gold for America, coming twenty years after winning their first one.

Heading into the contest, there had been quite a bit of buildup around it, which isn't surprising considering that these two countries are considered the two world powers when it comes to women's hockey. This contest more then lived up to the hype. American Maddie Rooney and Canadian Shannon Szabados both played outstanding in net and it took some fantastic shots to be able to beat them. Hilary Knight got the scoring started for the United States, after being held quite for most of the tournament. Canada would draw even on a Haley Irwin goal, two minutes into the 2nd period. Canada would take a lead four minutes later on a goal by Marie-Philip Poulin, who had scored five times in the last three gold medal games against the United States.

Poulin was involved in a play later in the game that was on the controversial side. There's no body checking allowed in women's hockey, like you see in the men's game. There is body contact sure, but to go out of your way to throw a hit on somebody isn't allowed in women's hockey. Late in the game, Poulin collided with American forward Brianna Decker. It looked like what would be a clean body check in men's hockey but under normal circumstances would have been called in the women's game. In this instance it wasn't called, despite the fact that Decker got a cut on her nose on the play. Something should have been called but wasn't and play was allowed to go on. The United States showed great resolve and eventually tied the game on a huge goal by Monique Lamoureux-Morando with seven minutes left in regulation.

The game would head to overtime, a period in which both Maddie Rooney and Shannon Szbados stood on their heads. We went to a shootout. In the 6th round of the contest, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson pulled off one of the prettiest moves your ever going to see on a hockey rink:

Meghan Agosta had a chance to keep Canada alive in this game on the next shot, but she was denied by Maddie Rooney, which gave the United States their 2nd ever gold medal at the Olympics. Team USA won the first ever women's gold medal in 1998 in Nagano, followed by four straight Olympic gold medals for Canada. Canada had a chance to win five golds, something that no other country has ever done at the winter games in the sport of hockey. This win for the United States was huge on a couple of levels.

Firs of all, this was the United States shot at redemption after loosing the gold medal in back to back years to Canada. So it got the US a measure of revenge after what has happened to them in the last two Olympic games. It was also a measure of revenge for the US on home soil as well. Las March, the Women's Hockey Team threatened to boycott the Women's World Championships over a fight for fair wages and equitable support from USA Hockey. The program is working a lot more together to keep its group in tact year round and yet they managed to make less money then what the Men do for this sport. Yet at the same time the Women's Hockey program, at least on an Olympic level, is much better then the Men's program at the moment. This was the teams way of showing that they can hang with the big boys.

Congrats to the United States for winning gold in Women's Ice Hockey!