How Canada defeated the U.S. to capture the gold medal at Women's Worlds
31 New Updates
Canada wins the gold medal game
UTICA, N.Y. — Team Canada won the IIHF women’s world championship with a thrilling 6-5 overtime win against Team USA on Sunday night.
Danielle Serdachny scored the game-winning goal less than six minutes into the first overtime period — on the power play — in a high-scoring, back-and-forth game against their cross-border rivals. Sunday night was the second-highest-scoring gold medal game ever at women’s worlds and the highest since the U.S. won 7-5 in 2015.
Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice, after coming into the game with only two assists in six games. Erin Ambrose, Julia Gosling and Emily Clark also scored for the Canadians. Ann-Renée Desbiens made 19 saves on 24 shots for the win.
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Team Canada knocks off Team USA, claims gold medal in IIHF Women’s World Championship overtime thriller
Gold medal game underway
The game is underway and let’s hope its as tight and dramatic as their preliminary matchup. No matter how tilted games tend to be in this tournament for both USA and Canada, everything always tightens up when these two meet. This game will likely be no different.
The key for USA will be maintaining their discipline, similar to their preliminary matchup just days ago. For Canada, it’s about taking advantage of any mistakes and counter-attacking.
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Goalies
It’s fair to assume this game will be close. Games between the U.S. and Canada typically are. But this year, both starting goalies have been unbelievable and enter the game with sub-1 goals against averages.
No, that’s not a typo.
Ann-Renée Desbiens ranks first in the tournament with a .973 save percentage and 0.49 goals against average. Aerin Frankel — who backstopped the Americans to gold last year — isn’t far behind with .961 save percentage and a 0.59 GAA. Frankel’s four shutouts leads the tournament.
Whichever team can get out to a lead early is going to feel good if their starter can keep playing to that level.
Marie-Philip Poulin
A major storyline heading into the gold medal game is Marie-Philip Poulin. She came into the tournament with a lower-body injury, and hadn’t played a game since March 8 in the PWHL. She’s played every game for Canada on the top line with Sarah Fillier and Brianne Jenner, but hasn’t scored and only has two assists through six games.
“She will find a way to impact the game one way or another. And if her legs are not where they once were, for this event, I think she'll find a way to impact the game. And some of the plays she's making with Fillier are magical and I think they'll find a way.
The business of Sarah Nurse
(Illustration: Daniel Goldfarb / The Athletic. Photos: Mark Blinch / Getty Images, Nicole Osborne / NHLI via Getty Images)
Sarah Nurse was driving home from a PWHL Toronto practice when she got a bit of sage advice.
It wasn’t from a podcast or a friend on the phone. The advice came courtesy of a billboard on the side of the road in Canada’s most populous city, featuring her own face with the Adidas slogan “You got this.”
“I was like, yeah, I do,” Nurse said with a laugh.
Nurse, 29, has had major partnerships in the past. In 2020, Tim Hortons and Mattel collaborated to make a Barbie doll in her likeness. In 2022, she was featured on a Cheerios box. But in the two years since her breakout performance at the Beijing Olympics — in which she broke a record for points in a single tournament (18) — Nurse has become one of the biggest faces in women’s hockey.
She became the first woman to appear on the cover of an EA Sports hockey video game with NHL 23. She was a key figure in the launch of the Professional Women’s Hockey League as a member of the player-led bargaining committee that struck a first-of-its-kind CBA in women’s professional hockey. This month, she starred in a Canadian Super Bowl commercial and was one of the busiest athletes during NHL All-Star Weekend, appearing at several league and partner events.
“Everywhere you turn, it’s like, there’s Sarah,” said Canadian national team defender Erin Ambrose.
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The business of Sarah Nurse: She’s one of the faces of hockey, but her sights are set on more
Special teams
Special teams are always critical in championship games, particularly when Canada and the U.S. are playing — things get chippy and there’s a lot of time either killing a penalty of trying to score with a player advantage. At last year’s world championship, it was a string of successful power plays — including a five-on-three — that gave Team USA the edge.
At this year’s tournament, the Americans have the second-best power play (25 percent), while Canada has only scored one goal on the advantage and is clicking at a six percent “success” rate. Now, Canada does have the second-best penalty kill (94.12 percent) in the tournament and the U.S. is not far behind in fourth (88.89 percent).
Canada’s head coach Troy Ryan said he’s not overly concerned about the “small sample” size on the power play.
“As long as it’s trending in the right direction, as long as you’re not losing momentum from it, I don’t stress too much,” he said. “You can see the movement now, like (Marie-Philip Poulin) has taken a little bit more control of getting switches and getting on her one-time side. We made a small adjustment by putting Fast in there … She’s playing very confident and the speed that she brings to that unit gives you a little jolt.”
Canada-USA meet again for gold
Team USA and Team Canada will have now faced off for gold at 22 of 23 women’s world championships since 1990 — when the IIHF first sanctioned the event — including at last year’s tournament, which the United States won 6-3. That American gold medal was won on Canadian soil, in Brampton, Ontario.
Not that anyone on Team Canada has forgotten.
“Obviously, I remember last year,” said Canada’s No. 1 goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens. “And we want this story to be different this year.”
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Canada women's worlds roster
Forwards (13): Laura Stacey, Sarah Fillier, Brianne Jenner, Sarah Nurse, Natalie Spooner, Emily Clark, Emma Maltais, Marie-Philip Poulin, Blayre Turnbull, Kristin O'Neill, Jamie Lee Rattray, Julia Gosling, Danielle Serdachny
Defenders (7): Jocelyne Larocque, Renata Fast, Ella Shelton, Ashton Bell, Erin Ambrose, Jaime Bourbonnais, Nicole Gosling
Goalies (3): Ann-Renée Desbiens, Emerance Maschmeyer, Kristen Campbell
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Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Fillier headline Team Canada roster for IIHF Women’s Worlds
U.S. women’s worlds roster
Forwards (15): Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Alex Carpenter, Hayley Scamurra, Kelly Pannek, Taylor Heise, Abbey Murphy, Hannah Bilka, Grace Zumwinkle, Lacey Eden, Britta Curl, Kirsten Simms, Laila Edwards, Joy Dunne, Tessa Janecke
Defenders (7): Megan Keller, Caroline Harvey, Savannah Harmon, Cayla Barnes, Rory Guilday, Haley Winn, Sydney Morrow
Goalies (3): Aerin Frankel, Nicole Hensley, Gwyneth Philips
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U.S. women’s world championship roster: Kendall Coyne Schofield returns, college stars debut
Laila Edwards makes history for Team USA
(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
Laila Edwards has become the first Black woman to play for the U.S. women’s national team at a world championship.
Edwards, 20, became the first Black woman to play for Team USA in November, when she played in the 2023-24 Rivalry Series against Canada. Now a member of the 23-player roster at worlds and on the ice in Wednesday’s opener against Switzerland, Edwards has officially arrived on the international stage, and solidified her spot on the national team.
“I’m super honored to have this platform, and to break that barrier is a great feeling. My only hope and wish is that it continues to flood as I’ve broken it open,” Edwards told The Athletic after the game.
“I think making the national team is a great step. To be at the World Championships, and representing Team USA at the international level is a great further step in the right direction, which I hope continues.”
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Laila Edwards becomes first Black woman to play for USA at a world championship: ‘A great feeling’
USA vs. Canada preliminary round recap
Team USA defeated Canada 1-0 in overtime in the final preliminary round game for each team at the 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship on Monday night.
The latest edition of the heated Canada-USA rivalry delivered again this time in a fast-paced, physical game that, of course, needed extra time to be decided.
Kirsten Simms scored the game-winning goal — her first goal and point of the tournament — with 1:22 left in overtime. Simms was the leading scorer in the NCAA this season with 75 points in 39 games, and was a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, which is given to the top player in women’s college hockey. The 19-year-old is making her women’s world championship debut.
“It’s an insane moment that I still can’t put into words,” Simms said. “I kind of blacked out in the moment, didn’t really know what was going on or if it actually happened. But obviously it was a super exciting moment and (I’m) super pumped that we pulled off the win.”
“It’s great whenever you can get a first and when it can be a first in overtime in such a big game in front of your home arena, it’s wonderful,” said American captain Hilary Knight. “I hope it’s the first of many for her and all the other young players that are joining our squad for the first time at this world championships, getting a lot of experience.”
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USA defeats Canada in overtime in IIHF Women’s World Championship prelim matchup, taking top seed
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2024 PWHL draft-eligible watch list in women's worlds final
(Only college players are included at this time)
Sarah Fillier, 23, Forward (Canada)
Fillier is as close to a consensus first-overall pick as we can get heading into the PWHL Draft.
Cayla Barnes, 25, Defender (USA)
Barnes has been a stalwart on the USA blue line for seven years now — since her debut at the 2018 Olympics when she was just 19 years old.
Danielle Serdachny, 22, Forward (Canada)
Serdachny set nearly every offensive record in the history of Colgate’s women’s hockey team with the most all-time points (239), goals (82), and assists (157).
Hannah Bilka, 23, Forward (USA)
Bilka, like Barnes, is fresh off a national championship with Ohio State after transferring for her fifth year. She led the Buckeyes in scoring this season with a career-high 22 goals and 48 points in 39 games.
Britta Curl, 24, Forward (USA)
Curl will leave the Wisconsin Badgers’ program as a three-time national champion. She was the captain of the team over the last two years and is coming off a career-high 62-point season.
Gwyneth Philips, 23, Goalie (USA)
Philips was one of the best goalies in the NCAA over the last three years. This season, she posted a .955 save percentage and 1.17 goals against average and was a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier.
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Women’s World Championship viewing guide: Can’t-miss games, PWHL players to watch and more
PWHL players in the women's worlds final
New York
Alex Carpenter (USA)
Ella Shelton (Canada)
Jaime Bourbonnais (Canada)
Minnesota
Kendall Coyne Schofield (USA)
Taylor Heise (USA)
Kelly Pannek (USA)
Nicole Hensley (USA)
Grace Zumwinkle (USA)
Boston
Hilary Knight (USA)
Megan Keller (USA)
Jamie Lee Rattray (Canada)
Aerin Frankel (USA)
Ottawa
Brianne Jenner (Canada)
Emily Clark (Canada)
Savannah Harmon (USA)
Ashton Bell (Canada)
Hayley Scamurra (USA)
Emerance Maschmeyer (Canada)
Montreal
Marie-Philip Poulin (Canada)
Laura Stacey (Canada)
Erin Ambrose (Canada)
Kristin O’Neill (Canada)
Ann-Renée Desbiens (Canada)
Toronto
Natalie Spooner (Canada)
Sarah Nurse (Canada)
Blayre Turnbull (Canada)
Renata Fast (Canada)
Jocelyne Larocque (Canada)
Emma Maltais (Canada)
Kristen Campbell (Canada)
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Women’s World Championship viewing guide: Can’t-miss games, PWHL players to watch and more
What to know about Team Canada
There are a lot of familiar faces on Canada’s roster with 20 players returning from last year’s world championship team.
Marie-Philip Poulin, of course, headlines the group. The team is balanced with veteran stars Brianne Jenner, Natalie Spooner — who leads the PWHL in scoring — Sarah Fillier — last year’s tournament MVP — and Sarah Nurse.
Cousins Nicole Gosling — who led Clarkson in scoring this year as a defender — and Julia Gosling — who was top-10 in points-per-game in the NCAA for St. Lawrence — will make their world championship debuts, and add an injection of youth to this veteran group.
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Women’s World Championship viewing guide: Can’t-miss games, PWHL players to watch and more
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What to know about Team USA
The American roster is, frankly, a lot of fun with a mix of decorated veterans — like Hilary Knight, the all-time leading scorer in worlds history, Alex Carpenter and Kendall Coyne Schofield — and elite young players from the PWHL and NCAA.
Caroline Harvey, 21, scored the most points by a defender at a single tournament last year and is already top-10 in all-time scoring among defenders. Nobody had more goals than Abbey Murphy with 33; Kirsten Simms led the NCAA in scoring (75); Joy Dunne, 18, scored the game-winning goal at the NCAA championship just over a week ago.
The roster has eight players from the national championship game and is good enough to win now, but also sets up an intriguing core leading into the 2026 Olympics.
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Women’s World Championship viewing guide: Can’t-miss games, PWHL players to watch and more