Against longtime reigning champs – and US rivals — Canada, nonetheless.
For the first time since 1998 when women’s hockey was introduced to the Olympics, the US team won gold, USA Today reports. The historic 3-2 victory happened during a penalty shootout against the Canadian team, who’ve taken gold at the last four Games.
The victory was especially sweet as the team blew a two-goal lead in the last five minutes of overtime against Canada four years ago. In fact, the team had come up against Canada in eight of the last Olympics, five of which times had gold on the line. “This is greater than a trophy and a medal,” center Gigi Marvin (pictured below) said after the game.
Forward Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson was the one to make the game-winning shot; her twin Monique scored the team’s second goal in the third period of the game.
Goalie Maddie Rooney, who, ABC News notes was born the year before the historical 1998 Nagano Games, stopped Canada’s last shot, which would’ve tied the game.
While the Canadian team looked dejected and even removed their silver medals while still on the ice, forward Hilary Knight, who also scored, explained how she hoped this win would impact young women as much as the ’98 Games had: “I hope women’s hockey grows, I hope it explodes in the next few years,” she told reporters. “That’s obviously one of our goals when we’re off the ice is to grow and promote the game and try and inspire the next generation as best we can and build a future for them even better than what was before.”
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