Pyeongchang 2018

GOING FOR GOLD

The 2018 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey team advanced to the gold-medal game after overpowering Finland, 5-0, in the semifinal matchup at the Gangneung Hockey Centre.

Minnesota Duluth’s Maddie Rooney picked up her first Olympic shutout with a 14-save effort, while the team’s offense outshot Finland by a dominant 38-14 margin. Four different U.S. athletes tallied the squad’s five goals, with 10 different athletes from six schools each recording a point in the contest.

Minnesota’s Gigi Marvin put Team USA on the board less than three minutes into the game off a feed from Meghan Duggan (Wisconsin) and Amanda Pelkey (Vermont). Fellow Gopher Dani Cameranesi tallied the next goal to extend the red, white and blue’s lead by two at the end of the first period.

Early in the second, the U.S. doubled its lead in 34 seconds with back-to-back power play goals. North Dakota’s Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson put away a one-timer from Minnesota’s Cameranesi and Kelly Pannek to go up 3-0. Wisconsin’s Hilary Knight then put Team USA up 4-0 off assists from Northeastern’s Kendall Coyne and Minnesota Duluth’s Sidney Morin.

In the final period, Cameranesi scored her second goal off a feed from Gopher teammates Hannah Brandt and Amanda Kessel, putting the U.S. up 5-0.

With the win, Team USA will go for the gold Thursday afternoon in PyeongChang against rival Canada. Canada most recently defeated the U.S., 2-1, in the final game of group play in PyeongChang.

Read more about the win at TeamUSA.org.

Bobsled
Justin Olsen (Air Force) and Evan Weinstock (Brown) placed 14th in the two-man bobsled competition, with a time of 3:18.54. The duo was the only U.S. sled to advance to the final heat, finishing 1.68 seconds behind the gold-medal pace.

Nick Cunningham (Boise State) and Hakeem Abdul-Saboor (UVA-Wise) finished 21st with a cumulative time of 2:29.69, while Codie Bascue and Sam McGuffie (Rice) finished 25th with a cumulative time of 2:30.09.

Men’s bobsled continues Saturday in PyeongChang with the four-man, where the U.S. has qualified three sleds.

Speedskating
The U.S. women qualified for the semifinals of the team pursuit at the Gangneung Oval on Monday afternoon. Florida Atlantic’s Brittany Bowe skated alongside teammates Heather Bergsma and Mia Manganello to a fourth-place finish in their qualifying race to advance. The trio completed the race in 2:59.75 and will race again in the semifinals on Wednesday.

Read more about the racing trio on TeamUSA.org.

Freestyle Skiing
California Davis club water polo athlete Brita Sigourney advanced to the finals of the women’s ski halfpipe competition Monday at the Phoenix Snow Park.

Following a 90.60 run, Sigourney sits in third place heading into the finals. The two-time Olympian will look to make a run at the podium Tuesday morning alongside fellow Americans Maddie Bowman and Annalisa Drew.

Read more about the U.S.’ performance on TeamUSA.org.