| Two-Goal Rally Falls Short; My Why Tour Resumes Nov. 21 |
| Hartford, Conn. – Cayla Barnes (Eastvale, Calif) tallied a goal and an assist as the U.S. Women’s National Team fell 3-2 to Canada here in the second matchup, Driven by AAA, of the My Why Tour, presented by Toyota. “Obviously a tough loss, I thought we played pretty well,” said Joel Johnson (White Bear Lake, Minn.), head coach of the 2021 U.S. Women’s National Team. “The first period we would’ve liked a restart but the second half of the first period and the rest of the game was pretty good for us.” Team Canada took an early lead with a pair of goals off its first two shots. Team USA was held shotless until 6:39 into the frame but got the ball rolling and rattled off seven-straight shots in the next four minutes. The U.S. gained momentum a little passed the midway point of the period with a power play opportunity. Alex Carpenter (North Reading, Mass.) found the tape of Savannah Harmon (Downers Grove, Ill.) who quickly dished it to Barnes. Barnes sent one blocker side passed Canadian goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens to put Team USA on the board 12:32 into the period. After the initial two shots the U.S. let up, the defense locked down as it only allowed four shots in total throughout the first 20.U.S. netminder Nicole Hensley (Lakewood, Colo.) made a pair of stellar saves early in the second to keep the U.S. deficit at one. An offensive zone draw for the U.S. nearly :30 later brought tic-tack-toe passing from Barnes to Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.) who found Amanda Kessel (Madison, Wis.) as she buried one to tie the game at two. Abbey Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill.) generated the final two chances for the U.S. in the period but couldn’t put one through to leave the game at a stalemate after the second. Hensley came up with a big save 4:10 into the period to keep the game square at two, before Caroline Harvey (Salem, N.H.) came close to putting the U.S. on top. Canada’s Sarah Fillier converted on a power play chance to put her team up with less than four minutes to play. A last-minute effort with an empty-net came up short as Canada was able to take game two of the My Why Tour, presented by Toyota, 3-2.Hensley started in net for Team USA, stopping 17 shots faced. The My Why Tour, presented by Toyota, will continue Sunday, Nov. 21, against Canada in Kingston, Ontario at 5:00 p.m. ET. |
