Another slow start for team USA against Sweden in the semi-final of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, but the women in red, white and blue got the job done, shutting out Sweden 5-0 Monday at Santagiulia Arena. The USA advanced to the Gold Medal Game which will take place on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. ET against Canada.
Team USA scored just once in the first period, despite coming into this game sporting a +25 goal differential in five games. That goal came off the stick of Cayla Barnes at 5:09 of the first period and was assisted by Lee Stecklein and Kelly Pannek.
Sweden were able to keep USA’s potent offense from scoring for the rest of the first period thanks to Ebba Svensson-Traff making 11 saves on 12 American shots on goal.
In the opening period, USA goaltender Aerin Frankel only needed to make two saves but the first one was a difficult one involving Hilda Svensson taking a shot through a defenseman’s screen on the rush.
Sweden went on the power play at 6:00 of the second period because of a tripping penalty against Hayley Scamurra, but the Swedes couldn’t generate any offense on the woman advantage.
USA made it 2-0 behind Taylor Heise’s second goal of the tournament at 9:09. The play involved Caroline Harvey sending a saucer pass to Hannah Bilka, who deked a defenseman and made a backhand pass to Heise who one-timed it through Svensson-Traff to make it 2-0. Assists were given to Bilka and Harvey.
Abbey Murphy made it 3-0 USA when she absolutely sniped the puck over Svensson-Traff’s left shoulder at 15:12. Assists were given to Bilka and Haley Winn.
Things began to unravel quickly for Sweden after this.
At 16:10, USA defenseman Laila Edwards ripped a wrist shot from the point and it was deflected into the net by Kendall Coyne-Schofield. Edwards and Megan Keller got the assists.
With the score reading 4-0 USA nearing the end of the second period, Sweden’s coaching staff pulled Svensson-Traff in favor of Emma Soderberg, but that didn’t change much about this game.
Sweden put 13 shots on goal in this period but had nothing to show for it.
With just over two minutes remaining in the period, Scamurra received a centering pass in the low slot from Britta Curl and snapped it past Soderberg at 17:59, sending the American fans at Santagiuilia arena into a frenzy once more. Curl and Tessa Janecke assisted the USA’s fifth and final goal of the game.
USA extended its shutout streak to 331 minutes and 23 seconds, going back to the first preliminary round game where they defeated Czechia 5-1.
A remarkable second period catapulted the USA into the gold medal game at the Winter Olympics for the fifth straight Olympics. The Americans will face the Canadians, who they defeated 5-0 in the preliminary round. However, Canada bested the USA in the final of the women’s ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Sweden will take on Switzerland in the bronze medal game on Thursday February 19 at 8:40 a.m. Despite crashing out hard in the semi-finals, Sweden improved dramatically at these games. They finished eighth in 2022 and have a chance to go home with a medal for the first time in 24 years.
