Volume 26:7

USA is Golden in Women’s Hockey

The USA Women’s Hockey Team won versus archrival Canada to capture gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics. The Americans came back to win after Kristin O’Neill gave Canada a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal in the second period. The first USA goal came with the goalie pulled and just over two minutes left in regulation when captain Hilary Knight deflected home a shot from the point. Knight became the all-time women’s American Olympic goal scoring leader when she tied the game. In overtime, a badly-timed Canadian line change was the break that USA needed. Megan Keller received a full-ice pass near the blue line, went around one defender with a great deke move, and delivered gold by sneaking the puck between the arm and body of Canada’s goalie before sliding into the net. Gold for USA, their first since 2018!

Canada vs. USA for Gold in Men’s Hockey

The men’s hockey gold medal will also be won by a North American country. The two best teams in the world, the United States and Canada, will face off for gold in Milan Cortina. One year ago, Canada beat USA in the 4-Nations face off final. These two archrivals will meet once again– this time with gold on the line. The path for both teams to gold was rocky.

For Canada, the hardest match was the semi-finals. The Canadians faced Finland. Finland was considered the fourth best team in the tournament after the USA, Canada, and Sweden. Finland began the game on fire, taking a 2-0 lead with Mikko Rantanen and Erik Haula goals. Canada fought back despite being without captain Sydney Crosby. Sam Reinhart got Canada on the board before the second intermission and at the end of two periods, it was 2-1 Finland. Shea Theodore evened the score with a goal halfway through the third period. By late in the third, all had broken loose and Finland was completely unraveled. With 36 seconds left, Nathan Mackinnon gave Canada their first lead with a power play goal. And that was all she wrote as Canada advanced to the Gold Medal Game.

The USA had their toughest test to date in the quarter finals. The Americans got an unlucky quarter final draw. They were stuck facing Sweden. Canada, USA, and Sweden are the only teams with rosters that are full of only NHL players. The USA started off well, taking a 1-0 lead in the second period. The USA held that lead until Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad tied the game with 1:30 minutes left in regulation. This sent it to overtime, where Quinn Hughes delivered the dagger and got the win for the USA. America advanced and then faced a heavily overmatched Slovakia team in the semi-finals, winning 6-2.

#1 vs. #2 in College Basketball

This weekend has one of the best college basketball games of the season. The #1 ranked Michigan Wolverines are facing #2 Duke Blue Devils. This game will be in Washington DC. Michigan stands as 2.5 point favorites. Michigan’s offense is averaging 7.6 more points per game them Duke. The Duke defense is giving 5.6 less points per game then the Wolverines. Michigan is shooting 1% better than Duke. Duke is on a three-game win streak since losing to their biggest rival, North Carolina. Michigan has won 11-straight since their only loss of the season.