Lamoureux Twins Lead United States to Olympic Women’s Hockey Gold

For the first time in 20 years, the United States has won gold at the women's Olympic hockey tournament after beating Canada 3-2 in the shootout on Thursday afternoon in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Canada went into the game with five straight victories over the Americans, and with their only Olympic loss ever coming as a result of a gold-medal game loss to the Americans in 1998. So it was a shock when, for the first time since 2002, Canada found themselves trailing after a period of play to the Americans.

On the third power-play of the game for the United States, Hilary Knight would grab the important first goal after tipping in Sidney Morin's shot just in front of the crease, beating Shannon Szabados to make it 1-0 after some good puck movement by the Americans.

To the excitement of the many Canadian Olympians in the crowd, Canada scored early in the second period to tie the championship game. Haley Irwin would make it 1-1 at exactly 2:00 after tipping in a pass from Blayre Turnbull just in front of the net, beating Maddy Rooney glove-side to tie the battle.

For the fifth time in her Olympic career, Canadian superstar Marie-Philip Poulin put her team in the lead at 26:55 in the contest. The gold-medal hero from the past two Olympics, Poulin made it 2-1 after receiving a pass from Meghan Agosta-Marciano, squeaking the puck under a diving Rooney to give Canada their first advantage of the game.

The game featured incredible, intense action at both ends of the ice, and with 53:39 complete, the United States tied the game up to put the contest into a further frenzy. Monique Lamoureux-Morando would give the Americans a big goal after Kelly Pannek sent a long stretch pass down the ice, with Lamoureux-Morando beating Szabados with a quick wrister to match the score late in the game.

The final game of the tournament required a shootout, the first time in Olympic women's hockey history. The goalies were on display at both ends of the ice, just like in the previous 80 minutes of hockey, but it would be Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scoring an incredible shootout goal to win the game for the United States, giving the team the gold medal.

The United States has now won two gold medals in Olympic hockey, both coming in close victories over Canada. For the Canadians, it's also their first loss in Olympic competition since the 1998 event in Japan, finishing silver in both tournaments.

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