LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Nicole Hensley (Lakewood, Colo.) stopped 18 of 19 shots and four different U.S. players scored as the U.S. Women’s Under-22 Select Team defeated Canada, 4-1, here today to open competition at the 2015 Under-22 Series.
Today was the first in a three-game series between the two teams at the Herb Brooks Arena at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, New York.
Cayley Mercer opened the scoring with a wraparound goal at 10:36 of the first period to give Canada a 1-0 advantage heading into the first intermission, but the U.S. gained the lead with a pair of goals 2:35 apart in the second stanza. Dana Trivigno (Setauket, N.Y.) received a backhanded pass from Lexie Laing (Marblehead, Mass.) and beat Canada goaltender Amanda Leveille in close at 14:31 before Hannah Brandt (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) made the score 2-1 minutes later.
Team USA extended its lead to 3-1 at 3:48 of the third period during a power-play opportunity when Haley Skarupa (Rockville, Md.) one-timed a shot at the top of the crease on a feed from Jenny Ryan (Victor, N.Y.).
With 3:39 to play, Annie Pankowski (Laguna Hills, Calif.) sent a drop pass to Sydney Daniels (Southwick, Mass.) in the high slot for the wrister into Canada’s net to account for the 4-1 final.
Team USA will face off against Canada on Friday (Aug. 21) at 3 p.m. ET.
Notes: The U.S. Women’s Under-22 Select Team was chosen from the USA Hockey Women’s National Festival that took place Aug. 11-16 in Lake Placid, New York … The three-game series vs. Canada is an annual event between the two countries held 11 times since 1999 … All games from the series are being streamed live and are available at usahockey.fasthockey.com … Follow @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for live scoring updates with the #U22Series hashtag … A complete on-ice schedule, including games, and series information can be found here.
