KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – Six different U.S. players scored, including two-goal performances by Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho), Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson (Grand Forks, N.D.) and Kelli Stack (Brooklyn Heights, Ohio), to lead the U.S. Women’s National Team to a 9-0 victory against Russia in a semifinal matchup at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship. Goaltender Alex Rigsby (Delafield, Wis.) stopped all 17 shots she faced for the shutout.
Team USA, who improved to 4-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L), will play in the gold medal game at 10:30 p.m. ET tomorrow (Monday) against the winner of the Canada versus Finland semifinal. The game will be televised live in the United States on NHL Network.
“We played our best game yet and it was a full team effort for 60 minutes,” said Ken Klee, head coach of the 2016 U.S. Women’s National Team. “Our goal coming into the tournament was to play in the gold medal game and we’re exited to face whoever our opponent will be.”
The U.S. took a 1-0 lead at 6:59 when Monique Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) raced for the puck deep in Russia’s zone and fed it to Stack, who tapped it into the net from the top of the crease. Just :37 later, Lamoureux-Davidson doubled the lead when she skated around four Russian players and snapped a wrist shot from the right circle.
Just past the midway point of the first period, Megan Bozek (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) made it 3-0 with a slapshot from the blue line that hit off a Russian defenseman. Less than a minute later, Knight got her stick on a loose puck in front of the Russian net to extend Team USA’s lead to 4-0.
In the final minutes of the period, Russia pulled goaltender Anna Prugova and put in Nadezhda Morozova.
With :16 on the clock, Meghan Duggan (Danvers, Mass.) gave the U.S. a 5-0 advantage going into the second period.
At 5:01 of the second stanza during four-on-four play, Knight drove down the right side of the ice and found Lamoureux-Davidson, who buried the pass for her second goal of the game.
A pair of power-play goals by Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.) and Stack in the final minutes of the period gave the U.S. an eight-goal cushion to start the third frame.
Knight added her second tally of the game just 1:23 into the final period with a quick release shot into the lower right corner of the net to account for the 9-0 final.
NOTES: The U.S. outshot Russia, 40-17, and 13 different U.S. players contributed points. For complete game statistics, click here … Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson was named the U.S. Player of the Game … This was the second meeting between the U.S. and Russia at the 2016 IIHF Women’s World Championship. Team USA won the first game, 8-0 … The U.S. hasn’t allowed a goal in eight periods, and has outscored its opponents 22-2 … Reagan Carey (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey’s director of women’s hockey, is the general manager of the 2016 U.S. Women’s National Team. Ken Klee (Denver, Colo.) is head coach of the 2016 U.S. Women’s National Team, and Brett Strot (Tampa, Fla.) and Chris Tamer (Dexter, Mich.) are assistant coaches … The U.S. is the defending champion and has played Canada in the gold medal game in all 16 of the previous events, capturing the event’s top prize a total of six times (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015), including five of the last six tournaments.
