The United States has surged through the women’s hockey tournament, winning all of its five games and allowing just one goal.
Now to guarantee an Olympic medal.
The U.S. are in the semifinals with the other 5-0 team in the tournament, Sweden.Defending Olympic champion Canada will play Switzerland in the other semifinal, with the winners advancing to the gold medal game on Thursday.
The tournament’s semifinal matchups are the same as the 2014 Sochi Games, when Canada went on to defeat Switzerland and then claim gold on Marie-Philip Poulin’s overtime goal in a 3-2 win over the U.S.
What’s different this time is the dominance the United States has shown in a tournament beginning to resemble more of a coronation for the two-time gold medal winners.
The Americans have won five games by a combined margin of 26-1, including a 5-0 victory over rival Canada. And they haven’t allowed a goal since Barbora Jurickova scored on a breakaway 8:37 into second period in a 5-1 win over Czechia in both teams’ tournament opener on Feb. 5.
The Americans have shown no fear against anyone.
“We have one goal in mind and that’s to bring home a gold medal,” defender Megan Keller said. “So whoever’s in our way, we’re going to focus on ourselves.”
Four years after Canada dominated in winning gold at Beijing, the U.S. has raised women’s hockey to another level with a multi-faceted attack that overwhelms opponents in waves and features a swift, playmaking group of defenders driving the offense.
How to watch women’s hockey semifinal
A showdown of the undefeated teams from the United States and Sweden gets underway on Monday.
The first of the two semifinals begins at 10:40 a.m. ET.
