Pyeongchang 2018

U.S. WOMEN SKATE PAST FINLAND

As Team USA kicked off Olympic ice hockey competition in PyeongChang, skaters from three different schools scored goals en route to Team USA’s 3-1 victory over Finland Sunday afternoon at the Kwandong Hockey Centre.

After trailing by a goal at the first intermission, Monique Lamoureux-Morando (North Dakota) scored the equalizer midway through the second period to get Team USA on the board. Less than three minutes later, Northeastern’s Kendall Coyne found the back of the net on a power play, giving Team USA its first and only lead of the game. She was assisted by Wisconsin’s Hilary Knight and Brianna Decker.

The U.S. held on to the 2-1 advantage throughout the final period, which included killing two crucial penalties. Minnesota’s Dani Cameranesi capped the game on an empty-net feed from Megan Keller (Boston College) with 13 seconds remaining to give Team USA a final 3-1 victory.

In the net for Team USA, Minnesota Duluth’s Maddie Rooney recorded 23 saves in her Olympic debut as the U.S. outshot Finland 41-24.

Across both rosters, 26 players skated collegiately at ten different institutions. All American players and three Finnish athletes were collegiate ice hockey players. The U.S. is back on the ice for its second game of preliminary round action against Olympic Athletes from Russia on Tuesday.

Read more on TeamUSA.org

Cross-country skiing

Scott Patterson (Vermont) was the top American finisher in the men’s skiathlon Sunday afternoon at the Alpensia Cross-Country Centre. Amid cold weather conditions, Patterson’s strong second half pushed the first-time Olympian to the top half of the standings, crossing the finish line at 1:17:25.5.

Meanwhile, Alaska Pacific’s Erik Bjornsen finished 42nd in a time of 1:20:54.7, and Dartmouth’s Patrick Caldwell rounded out collegiate Americans in the event finishing 51st in 1:23:18.1.

A trio of Norwegians – Simen Krueger, Martin Sundby and Hans Holund – swept the men’s skiathlon podium finishing 1:16:20.0, 1:16:28.0 and 1:16:29.9, respectively.

Men’s cross-country skiing continues with the sprint classic on February 13.

Biathlon

Team USA’s lone collegiate competitor in the biathlon, Lowell Bailey (Vermont) took the country’s top finish in the 10k sprint with a time of 24:54.4; he registered just one shooting penalty during the race.

The top finisher, German Arnd Peiffer, crossed the finish line in a time of 23:38.8, after outpacing Czech Republic’s Michal Krcmar (23:43.2) and Italy’s Dominik Windisch (23.46.5).

Men’s biathlon continues with the 12.5k pursuit tomorrow at the Alpensia Biathlon Centre.