Team USA clinched their semifinal berth with a 14-0 win over Denmark. Haley Winn and Caroline Harvey picked up five points each.
 
Emma-Sofie Nordstrom made 51 saves in the first two periods, and Caroline Bjergstad 20 saves for Denmark in the third.

The US outshot Denmark 85-8, and broke the single-game shots on goal record, 82, the 1997 US team set in 1997 in a 10-0 win over Sweden.

With its 100,000 female hockey players, the US is a women’s hockey superpower. In comparison, there are about 1,000 girls and women playing hockey in Denmark. In fact, there are more female hockey players in the US than there are people in Herning, the host city of the 2026 IIHF Women’s World Championship.

Twice as many, in fact.

With eight of the Danes playing in the second-tier Swedish league and another eight in the Danish league, it wasn’t a fair fight.

Then again, in sports, most everything is possible if you have a plan, stick to it, and stick together. That’s how they qualified for the playoff stage.

The Danes had a plan. If only they could hold the Americans off the scoreboard, perhaps they’d get frustrated

They stuck to it, and they stuck together — but the US scored on their first shot of the game.

Hannah Bilka’s clever drop pass in the neutral zone fooled the Danish defense and sent Taylor Fox on a breakaway. She beat Nordstrom with a wrister to the stick side just 57 seconds into the game.

Just a minute and 23 seconds later, it was 2-0, thanks to a sneaky net-front tip by Casey O’Brien. And 30 seconds after that, Winn sidestepped a Danish defender in the high slot, fired a snapshot, and Pannek took care of the rebound to make it 3-0 at 2:50.

At 4:35, Alex Carpenter made it 4-0 from the doorstep, off a great cross-ice pass from Hilary Knight. Winn picked up her second point of the game when she fired another great shot from the point. This time, it rang off the crossbar on its way in at 7:54.

Team Denmark showcased the best of sports when they regrouped and gave their all, no matter what the score was.

Team USA started the second period on the power play. Harvey got the puck on the blue line and had all the time in the world to get to the slot and fire a laser top shelf to make it 6-0 at 1:31.

Straight off an offensive-zone faceoff, Lee Stecklein got the puck on the blue line, drove to the net, and found Bilka at the back door. She had an easy job of making it 7-0 at 8:54.

Number eight was just as pretty. A failed breakout pass by the Danes opened the lane for O’Brien, but instead of shooting, she sneaked a pass to her right, and Grace Zumwinkle slammed the puck into an empty net at 9:55.

Another 97 seconds later, Pannek could mohawk her way from the blue line to the front of the net, unchallenged, and make it 9-0.

Laila Edwards made it 10-0 with 12 seconds remaining in the second period. She moved towards the net, looking for a pass, but the Danish defenders split right in front of her, one by one, until she was all by herself in front of the net and could tap it in.

Harvey made it 11-0 on the power play with a beautiful wrister from the slot at 5:51 of the third period. She had plenty of time to pick the top corner, leaving Bjergstad with no chance.

Winn scored her second of the game off a great feed from Joy Dunne from behind the net, at 8:18.

Jesse Compher scored her first goal of the tournament with a snap shot from up close to make it 13-0 with 7:45 remaining in the game.

With 1:56 remaining, Denmark Bergmann was awarded a penalty shot after Nikita Bergmann was pulled down on a breakway. Nicoline Jensen took the shoit, but Gwyneth Philips got her glove on it. 

Haylkey Scamurra scored the Americans' 14th goal from the doorstep with 6.3 seconds remaining.