Bianca Birrittieri Shuts Down Canada to Lift Team USA to Record-Setting 10th Gold at Under-18 Women’s Worlds
SYDNEY, Nova Scotia — Goals from Emily Pohl and Lindsay Stepnowski combined with a 38-save shutout from Bianca Birrittieri propelled Team USA to a 2-0 victory over Canada and a gold medal Sunday night at the 2026 IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship.
The Americans had already played a nearly flawless tournament, giving up just two goals through their first five games. With a gold-medal shutout, they capped off the tournament by achieving the first “perfect gold” at this level, having never trailed or tied in a game after 0-0. This is also Team USA’s record-setting tenth gold at this tournament, which the U.S. last won in 2024.
Canada had the advantage of home ice, with more than 5,000 fans cheering for the Canadians, but that did not seem to faze the Americans, who fed off that energy.
Goalie Bianca Birrittieri was a big part of silencing the loud pro-Canada crowd as she stopped chance after chance from Canadian skaters.
“Being able to step up, make saves, shut the crowd down, make it quiet — it’s awesome,” Birrittieri said. “They came in loud and well, they left quiet.”
Team USA’s depth was on display throughout the week; every skater and Birrittieri tallied at least a point, and six different players finished the tournament with double-digit point totals. The Americans used their speed relentlessly in the gold-medal game and pounced on any mistake Canada made while playing nearly flawlessly in their own defensive zone.
The first U.S. goal came with about six minutes to play in the first period. A Canadian player skated into the goalpost, knocking it off its moorings. Talla Hansen won the ensuing faceoff. She tapped the puck through her opponent’s legs and quickly centered it to the slot where Emily Pohl was waiting.
“We get to play with each other outside of USA Hockey, so we’ve done that before,” Pohl said. “We used it earlier in the tournament and it worked. So, on that faceoff I said, ‘Want to do it?’ and Talla [Hansen] executed it perfectly. I just had to tap it in.”
Canada pushed back harder in the second period, but Birrittieri continued to come up big for her team, frustrating the Canadians and keeping them off the board. It was her solid play that made U.S. coach Courtney Kennedy really begin to feel like her team was going to win gold.
“I tip my hat to Bianca [Birrittieri]. She made some saves that stole momentum,” Kennedy said. “There’s usually one save in a game that kind of seals things and puts the nail in the coffee and you know it in your gut. When [Birrittieri] made the save on a rush on the left side in the second, you could just feel it.”
Lindsay Stepnowski doubled the U.S. lead late in the second period, putting back a rebound that came to her in the high slot to make it 2-0 and send the Americans to the locker room feeling confident they could hold on for the win.
This roster featured 10 players who’d settled for silver at last year’s tournament. The sting of that loss to Canada combined with the confidence they gained in beating Canada twice over the summer is what drove many of the players on the team this year.
“They’ve been training and buying in every day, all the time,” Kennedy said. “We were on the ice a lot, and we did a lot of video, and we were kind of hard on them in terms of trying to understand the system. It’s not a crazy system. It’s literally, ‘Play with your heart and play for each other.’
“They chose to do that. Watching them today choose time and time again to play the right way, it melts your heart because you want them to get that final thing they dream of. To see the buy-in for every minute against a very strong Canada team is something I’ll be thinking about for a while.”
In a fast-paced, choppy game where neither team ever settled in nor had prolonged stretches of zone time, Pohl said it was everything the team had learned from those hard practices that made the difference.
“Our coaches instilled all our habits in us and every single player bought in,” Pohl said.” When that happens, you can see the outcome. Being able to do it for our country is the best thing ever.”
In addition to the gold medal, several US players earned individual honors at the tournament.
Jane Daley was named tournament MVP and received the Directorate Award for the tournament’s best forward. She was also named to the Media All-Star Team. Maggie Averill earned the Directorate Award as the tournament’s best defender, and she made the Media All-Star Team as well.
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
