News & Updates Blog

Check out this blog post by Caitlin Cahow

U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team Earns 13-0 Victory over Russia

VANCOUVER, B.C. – The U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team scored an Olympic record seven power-play goals en route to a 13-0 victory over Russia here tonight in its second game of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Team USA improved to 2-0-0-0 with the win and secured a spot in the tournament’s semifinal round.

Jenny Potter (Edina, Minn.) logged her second-straight three-goal game, making her the first woman ever to record two three-goal games in a single Olympic Winter Games. Meanwhile, Team USA’s 13 goals also set a U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team single-game record.

Team USA took a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game when Monique Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) collected a loose puck in the high slot and slid a low shot past the left pad of Russian goaltender Anna Prugova. Three minutes later, with Team USA shorthanded, Potter dragged the puck around a defender and buried her fourth goal of the tournament to give the U.S. a 2-0 advantage.

Team USA doubled its lead to 4-0 with a pair of goals midway through the opening period. Karen Thatcher (Blaine, Wash.) collected a rebound off of a Potter shot and snapped the puck under the crossbar for her first Olympic goal. Two-time Olympian Caitlin Cahow (Branford, Conn.) also collected her first career Olympic tally, locating a rebound in the crease and tapping it into the open net for a power-play goal. Potter’s second goal of the night on the power play sent Team USA into the first intermission with a 5-0 lead.

Angela Ruggiero (Simi Valley, Calif.) notched her second goal of the tournament on the power play just 34 seconds into the second period when her centering pass bounced off of Prugova’s skate and over the goal line. Kelli Stack (Brooklyn Heights, Ohio) pushed the U.S. lead to 7-0 with a power-play tally of her own less than three minutes later.

Jocelyne Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) gave Team USA an 8-0 advantage six minutes into the middle frame, connecting on a give-and-go opportunity with teammate Natalie Darwitz (Eagan, Minn.). Darwitz notched a power-play goal of her own just two minutes later, firing a slap shot high over Prugova’s blocker.

Following a second-straight marker by Darwitz, Potter collected her third goal of the game with a low shot that beat new Russian goaltender Mariya Onolbaeva between the pads. Molly Engstrom (Siren, Wis.) then gave Team USA a 12-0 lead heading into the third period with a power-play goal from a sharp angle.

Lisa Chesson (Plainfield, Ill.) scored the United States’ record-setting seventh power-play tally and final goal of the game one minute into the third period when her long wrist shot redirected off of a Russian stick and over Onolbaeva’s blocker.

Team USA goalie Jessie Vetter (Cottage Grove, Wis.) logged seven saves in the shutout win, while Russia’s Prugova and Onolbaeva combined to stop 21 shots in the loss.

Team USA will face Finland Thursday (Feb. 18) in its final preliminary-round game of the tournament. A full U.S. schedule is listed below.

NOTES: Natalie Darwitz’s four second-period points (2-2) set a U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team record and tied a women’s Olympic record. Her five points (2-3) tied Jenny Potter for most in U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team single-game history … Hilary Knight’s (Hanover, N.H.) three first-period helpers set a U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team record for assists in a single frame. Her four assists tied a U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team single-game record set by Monique Lamoureux on Sunday … Nine different U.S. players (Caitlin Cahow, Lisa Chesson, Darwitz, Knight, Joceylne Lamoureux, Monique Lamoureux, Potter, Kelli Stack, and Karen Thatcher) recorded multiple-point games … The only other player besides Potter to record two career hat-tricks in women’s Olympic history is former U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team member Katie King, who logged one in both 1998 and 2002 … Team USA went 7-for-8 on the power play, while Russia was 0-for-5 … The U.S. roster, including player bios, can be found here. Additional coverage of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team can be found at USAHockey.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter … Mark Johnson, head women’s ice hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin, is Team USA’s head coach, with Dave Flint, head women’s ice hockey coach at Northeastern University, and Jodi McKenna, head women’s ice hockey coach at Wesleyan University, serving as assistant coaches.