MILAN — The upstart Italians didn’t make it easy on the Americans, and that’s everything veteran forward Kelly Pannek could have asked for as the top-seeded U.S. continued its run through the Olympic women’s hockey tournament.
A festive atmosphere, a determined opponent, a little chippiness and a 6-0 win in which 13 players — led by two goals from Palos Heights’ Kendall Coyne Schofield — registered at least a point.
“It feels like right now we’re finding different ways within our identity to get the job done,” Pannek said. “And it’s taken every single person on the ice on our team and our staff to do it. And it feels like we’re still building to what we really can be.”
After a first period in which the Americans outshot Italy 20-2 but led only 1-0 on Megan Keller’s goal, the U.S finally broke through with a five-goal second period.
Laila Edwards, Hannah Bilka and Britta Curl-Salemme also scored. Gwyneth Philips finished with six saves as the Americans posted their fourth straight shutout.
The Group A-winning U.S. has outscored its opponents by a combined 26-1 in winning all five games, with the lone goal allowed in a 5-1 tournament-opening win over Czechia.
With Coyne Schofield, Lee Stecklein and Grace Zumwinkle making the scoresheet Friday, the U.S. has only two skaters — defenders Cayla Barnes and Rory Guilday — without a point.
“At the other day I think it’s everyone’s willing to do whatever it takes to be a part of the success of this team,” Coyne Schofield said. “And whatever role’s asked of us on a given night that’s what we’re going to do.”
Now two wins away from winning its third Olympic gold medal, the U.S. advanced to the semifinals on Monday. The Americans will play either Sweden, after the Group B winner upset Czechia 2-0 earlier in the day, or Germany, should the seventh-seeded team knock off Canada in its quarterfinal Saturday.
Finland faces Switzerland in the other quarterfinal Saturday.
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The game on Friday featured dueling chants, with each chorus of “USA! USA! USA!” met with an even louder “EEE-TA-LIA!”
Italy stood little chance making its second Olympic appearance, each time as the host team. Advancing to the knockout round was considered an accomplishment for the Italians, who went 2-2 in the preliminary round, and after going 0-4 at the 2006 Turin Games.
Goalie Gabriella Durante stole the show by stopping 19 of 20 shots through the opening period, and 45 overall.
“There’s definitely obviously sadness and disappointment, but at the same time, I don’t think the team has any regrets in how hard we played,” said Durante, who noted the team watched the movie “Miracle,” about the U.S. men’s run in the 1980 Olympics as motivation the night before.
“We were just believing from the very start. And obviously the second it got away from us a little bit but at the same time like it’s the best in the world,” she added. “I’ll remember it for the rest of my life, the crowd specifically, the atmosphere.”
Things also got heated following a scuffle after Bilka scored to put the U.S. up 6-0 late in the second period. As Evergreen Park’s Abbey Murphy and Italy’s Franziska Stocker were sent off for penalties, U.S. coach John Wroblewski began shouting across the bench at Italy coach Eric Bouchard.
Wroblewski said he was unhappy with the calls seeming to favor the Italians, because Murphy stepped in after Bilka was cross-checked from behind.
“I think his team got frustrated for sure,” Bouchard said. “They’re the best hockey team in the world, and they found a way to capitalize on their chances. But that third period, the girls never quit.”
Sweden upsets Czechia 2-0
Coach Ulf Lundberg declared “the time is now” for Sweden before the women’s hockey tournament opened.
A little more than a week and five wins later, his young, talented and fearless team has delivered.
Hanna Olsson scored, Ebba Traff Svensson stopped 29 shots and Sweden upset Czechia 2-0 on Friday to advance to the semifinal round for the first time in 12 years.
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” Lundberg said of a team that has finished no better than sixth at the past five world championships. “Going back to the worlds in the Czech Republic, we were close. But everyone talks about when are they going to take the step to the semifinal? And now we have done it. I’m so satisfied.”
After Olsson scored a power-play goal 4:47 into the second period, Hilda Svensson sparked a huge celebration by sealing the victory with an empty-net goal with 25 seconds remaining.
Sweden had not advanced to the semifinals since finishing fourth at the 2014 Sochi Games. And the nation is in position to earn its third Olympic medal, and first since winning silver at the 2006 Turin Games, when Sweden upset the U.S. in the semifinals.
The Swedes feature a young, talented roster made up of a core of the team that won silver at the 2018 Under-18 championships. There are eight players 22 and younger, with seven currently competing at U.S. colleges. They include Svensson, the 19-year-old Ohio State freshman, who’s tied for seventh in the nation with 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) in 26 games.
Sweden entered the quarterfinals as the tournament’s sixth seed after going 4-0 through preliminary round play to win the Group B title.
Czechia’s Klara Peslarova finished with 21 saves.
The loss was a major disappointment for a Czech team on the rise since finishing seventh in its Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Games. Czechia has since won two bronze medals — its first in women’s play — and finished fourth twice over the past four world championships.
“There’s just no words for this. It hurts. It’s going to hurt for a long time,” Natalie Mlynkova said. “We were supposed to have this one.”