U.S. goes for gold
By Risto Pakarinen |
15 NOV 2026
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Tim Austen
Team USA did what was expected of them and clinched their gold medal game berth with a 5-0 over Finland.
“We expected a good fight from them. Finland is a fast team, they're skilled, and they're relentless the whole sixty,” said Team USA’s Caroline Harvey.
Team USA’s superstars — Harvey, Laila Edwards, Hilary Knight, Megan Keller — delivered. All four goit on the score sheet, Knight scored one and added an assist. Tessa Janecke collected two assists. Goaltender Aerin Frankel made 17 saves.
Sanni Ahola made 20 saves and Emilia Kyrkko, who took over in the third period, nine saves for Finland.
In the last five IIHF Women’s World Championships, dating back to August 2021, Team USA had played Finland six times and won them all, with a 29-5 goal difference.
Naturally, they were the odds-on favourites coming into the 2026 semifinal.
It was Team USA that carried the play for most of the first period, and just 6:36 into the game, they scored first. Laila Edwards’ point shot was tipped to the side of the net, Hayley Scamurra grabbed the loose puck, and found Kelly Pannek wide open at the far post. She gave Ahola no chance as she slammed it in to make it 1-0.
"I mean, they win 5-0," said Finland's Sanni Vanhanen. "Our problem today was that we didn't defend well enough. And yes, we had chances, but we also have to bury them."
When Team USA needed Frankel, she showed up big time. In the first period, Finland had several good scoring chances, including an Emmi Juusela breakaway, but Frankel made the stop.
USA outshot Finland 12-7 in the period.
“They were better in every area of the game but we gave our all, too bad we couldn’t score on our chances. We put up a fight and I'm proud of our team,” said Finland's Emma Nuutinen.
With 3:26 remaining, Alex Carpenter doubled the Americans’ lead off Hilary Knight’s clever no-look backhand pass from behind the net. Tessa Janecke also picked up an assist.
In the second period, it looked for a while as though Finland might be able to challenge the Americans. Aided by a power play, they created several chances and kept the puck in the US zone for long periods. Viivi Vainikka had the best Finnish chance but whiffed on Noora Tulus’s pass to the far post.
“We had breakdowns at times and obviously we want to clean that up for tomorrow, but it was a good effort by our group,” Harvey said .
Then, out of the blue, Team USA scored again. Taylor Fox created some space for herself and found Haley Winn on the blueline. Winn fired a shot that hit a Finnish defender in front of the net, and when the puck deflected to Caroline Harvey, she had an easy job firing it into an empty net at 13:33.
Just 34 seconds later, it was 4-0. Joy Dunne tried to beat Ahola with a wraparound, but the Finnish goalie got her pad on it. However, Lacey Eden threw herself onto the ice to poke the rebound into the net.
And 61 seconds later, Knight, in the slot, redirected Megan Keller’s excellent pass from the hash marks to make it 5-0.
Finland gave Ahola the rest of the game off — she was replaced by Kyrkko — and started to prepare for Monday’s bronze medal game.
"We’re hoping to carry the momentum into tomorrow, build on the good habits, and win a gold medal,” Harvey said.
“We expected a good fight from them. Finland is a fast team, they're skilled, and they're relentless the whole sixty,” said Team USA’s Caroline Harvey.
Team USA’s superstars — Harvey, Laila Edwards, Hilary Knight, Megan Keller — delivered. All four goit on the score sheet, Knight scored one and added an assist. Tessa Janecke collected two assists. Goaltender Aerin Frankel made 17 saves.
Sanni Ahola made 20 saves and Emilia Kyrkko, who took over in the third period, nine saves for Finland.
In the last five IIHF Women’s World Championships, dating back to August 2021, Team USA had played Finland six times and won them all, with a 29-5 goal difference.
Naturally, they were the odds-on favourites coming into the 2026 semifinal.
It was Team USA that carried the play for most of the first period, and just 6:36 into the game, they scored first. Laila Edwards’ point shot was tipped to the side of the net, Hayley Scamurra grabbed the loose puck, and found Kelly Pannek wide open at the far post. She gave Ahola no chance as she slammed it in to make it 1-0.
"I mean, they win 5-0," said Finland's Sanni Vanhanen. "Our problem today was that we didn't defend well enough. And yes, we had chances, but we also have to bury them."
When Team USA needed Frankel, she showed up big time. In the first period, Finland had several good scoring chances, including an Emmi Juusela breakaway, but Frankel made the stop.
USA outshot Finland 12-7 in the period.
“They were better in every area of the game but we gave our all, too bad we couldn’t score on our chances. We put up a fight and I'm proud of our team,” said Finland's Emma Nuutinen.
With 3:26 remaining, Alex Carpenter doubled the Americans’ lead off Hilary Knight’s clever no-look backhand pass from behind the net. Tessa Janecke also picked up an assist.
In the second period, it looked for a while as though Finland might be able to challenge the Americans. Aided by a power play, they created several chances and kept the puck in the US zone for long periods. Viivi Vainikka had the best Finnish chance but whiffed on Noora Tulus’s pass to the far post.
“We had breakdowns at times and obviously we want to clean that up for tomorrow, but it was a good effort by our group,” Harvey said .
Then, out of the blue, Team USA scored again. Taylor Fox created some space for herself and found Haley Winn on the blueline. Winn fired a shot that hit a Finnish defender in front of the net, and when the puck deflected to Caroline Harvey, she had an easy job firing it into an empty net at 13:33.
Just 34 seconds later, it was 4-0. Joy Dunne tried to beat Ahola with a wraparound, but the Finnish goalie got her pad on it. However, Lacey Eden threw herself onto the ice to poke the rebound into the net.
And 61 seconds later, Knight, in the slot, redirected Megan Keller’s excellent pass from the hash marks to make it 5-0.
Finland gave Ahola the rest of the game off — she was replaced by Kyrkko — and started to prepare for Monday’s bronze medal game.
"We’re hoping to carry the momentum into tomorrow, build on the good habits, and win a gold medal,” Harvey said.
Semifinals: United States vs Finland - 2026 IIHF Women's World Championship
OF