CALGARY, Alberta – The U.S. outshot Canada 24-20, but the U.S. Women’s Under-22 Select Team fell, 2-1, here tonight in the opening game of the 2016 Under-22 Series at Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary, Alberta.
“It took us a few minutes to get going at the start of the game but I thought it was pretty evenly matched overall and we just didn’t capitalize on our chances,” said Bob Deraney, head coach of the 2016 U.S. Women’s Under-22 Select Team. “We played hard and had a strong third period which we’ll build off of and be ready to face them again on Friday.”
After a scoreless opening period, Victoria Bach gave Canada a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 8:03 of the second frame. Sarah Nurse scored late in the period to double Canada’s lead heading into the second intermission.
Sydney Daniels (Southwick, Mass.) got the U.S. on the board just 2:41 into the third period to cut Canada’s lead to 2-1. Daniels collected a pass from Cara Piazza (Darien, Ill.) and beat Canadian goaltender Erica Howe glove-side with a shot on a breakaway. Kelsey Koelzer (Horsham, Penn.) also picked up an assist on the play.
Team USA pulled its goaltender in favor of an extra attacker late in the game but was unable to get the equalizer.
Kaitlin Burt (Lynn, Mass.) made 18 saves for the U.S.
Team USA and Canada will meet in game two of the Under-22 Series on Friday (Aug. 19) at 6 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. 8-12 in Lake Placid, New York … The three-game series vs. Canada is an annual event between the two countries held 12 times since 1999 … All games from the series are being streamed live and are available at hockeycanada.ca … Follow @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for live scoring updates with the #U22Series hashtag .
