COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The U.S. Women’s National Team fell to Canada, 5-1, here before a sellout crowd of 6,289 at Agganis Arena in Boston in the first game of the Time is Now Tour, presented by Toyota.
“We didn’t do very many little things right and had a lot of missed opportunities that affected the outcome of the game,” said Robb Stauber, head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team. “Games like this really shed light on what you have to do to get better.”
Canada opened up the scoring 7:08 into the first period off a two-on-two rush, sliding the puck past U.S. goaltender Nicole Hensley (Lakewood, Colo.). At 9:05, Emily Pfalzer (Buffalo, N.Y.) followed her shot and buried a rebound to even the score to 1-1. Hensley stood tall through the end of the first, including a glove save on a Canadian shot fired from the hash marks with 5:18 left to play.
The Canadians scored shorthanded at 4:52 into the second stanza and extended their lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 1:47. Hannah Brandt (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) had a great chance from the slot with 28 seconds remaining foiled by Canadian netminder Genevieve Lacasse and just 13 seconds later, Canada converted to lead 4-1 after 40 minutes.
Alex Rigsby (Delafield, Wis.) started the third period in net for Team USA. Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.) broke in alone shorthanded at the 16-minute mark in an attempt to cut the deficit in half, but was stopped by Lacasse. Canada closed out the scoring with 4:54 left to account for the 5-1 final.
The U.S. returns to action Tuesday (Nov. 7) at 7:00 p.m. ET against Finland at Florida Hospital Center Ice in Wesley Chapel, Florida, to open the Four Nations Cup.
NOTES: The U.S. outshot Canada 38-23 … For complete game statistics, click here … The Time is Now Tour consists of a series of games in the U.S. to assist the U.S. Women’s National Team in preparation for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. For more information, including the full schedule and ticket information, visit TheTimeisNowTour.com … For full coverage of the U.S. Women’s National Team, click here. Follow along on social media @USAHockey on Twitter and Instagram, and Facebook.com/uswomenshockey.
