U.S. Women Take 5-1 Lead Into Third Period Of Women’s Hockey Semifinal

Posted by Ralph Routon

Angela Ruggiero and Caitlin Cahow scored goals in the first six minutes of the second period, and center Karen Thatcher fired in another as the United States has taken a commanding 5-1 lead over Sweden after two periods of their Winter Olympics women’s hockey semifinal at Canada Hockey Place.

Karen Thatcher

Monique Lamoureux and Meghan Duggan scored 69 seconds apart in the first period, as the Americans moved quickly to begin avenging their unexpected 3-2 shootout loss to Sweden in the 2006 Olympic semifinals.

U.S. goalie Jessie Vetter made a point-blank save early in the game but hasn’t been tested much since. At the second intermission, the Americans have a 26-9 edge in shots on goal.

Lamoureux took a pass just inside the blue line, saw an opening and skated in on the net, slipping the puck under Swedish goaltender Kim Martin‘s pads at 7:14 of the first period for a 1-0 lead. With thousands of Canadians cheering for Sweden, the U.S. went on a power play soon thereafter, crashed in on Martin, and Duggan lifted the puck over the prone goalie at 8:23 to make it 2-0.

They were particularly impressive on their defensive end, blocking most of Sweden’s attempts and controlling the puck. But after the Americans’ two goals in the middle period, Sweden made it 4-1 with a power-play goal.

The winner plays the Canada-Finland winner for the gold medal on Thursday.