U.S. Women Get 4-0 Jump On Finland

Posted by Ralph Routon

For eight minutes of hockey Thursday afternoon, Finland stood up well to the United States in their final pool-play game of the Winter Olympics, even with a 9-8 edge over the Americans in shots on goal.

Then, suddenly Julie Chu redirected a shot by Angela Ruggiero past Finn goaltender Noora Raty, giving the U.S. a 1-0 lead. That woke up the crowd of about 5,000 inside the University of British Columbia’s Thunderbird Arena. And, suddenly, the Americans were in total control, not giving up another shot the rest of the period while adding goals from Molly Engstrom, Meghan Duggan and Natalie Darwitz for a 4-0 lead at the first intermission.

If the U.S. goes on to win as expected, continuing its streak of never losing an Olympic pool-play game, that sets the same semifinal matchups as in 2006: Canada vs. Finland and the U.S. vs. Sweden. That turned into a disaster for Team USA, as Swede goalie Kim Martin shut down the Americans at the end of a 3-2 shootout upset.