BUFFALO, New York — Rebecca Gilmore (Wayland, Mass./Assabet Valley) and Melissa Samoskevich (Sandy Hook, Conn./Shattuck-St. Mary’s) each had four points to lead the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 Team to a 5-0 victory over the Czech Republic in its semifinal match-up of the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Women’s World Championship. Team USA will face rival Canada in the gold-medal game at 7 p.m. ET tomorrow (Jan. 12) at HARBORCENTER.
“We had another strong effort tonight, and I’m very proud of our team as we head into the gold-medal game,” said Joel Johnson, head coach of the 2015 U.S. Women’s National Team.“All along we’ve talked about team chemistry and sticking to our systems, and we’re pleased with the results. Tomorrow will be a great match-up and it’s going to be a fun environment.”
For complete recap and box score, click here.
U.S. goaltenders Kaitlin Burt (Lynn, Mass./Boston College) and Brittany Bugalski (Lake Worth, Fla./Assabet Valley) combined to stop all 11 Czech shots for the shutout.
Notes: Rebecca Gilmore was named U.S. Player of the Game … Gilmore (2-2—4) and Melissa Samoskevich (2-2—4) tallied four points each in tonight’s contest … Team USA outshot Czech Republic 66-11 … Both U.S. goaltenders Kaitlin Burt (40:00, 9 SVS) and Brittany Bugalski (20:00, 2 SVS) saw action in tonight’s game … Samoskevich (6-2—8) and Gilmore (2-6—8) are two and three in tournament scoring. Jincy Dunne (1-5—6) leads all defensemen in scoring … Keep up with the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 Team by visiting USAWomensHockey.com. Follow @USAHockeyScores for live in-game updates, join the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship conversation on Twitter using #U18WWC.
