SYDNEY, Nova Scotia – Propelled by a 38-save shutout from Bianca Birrittieri (Flower Mound, Texas), the U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team claimed gold at the 2026 IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship with a 2-0 victory over Canada.
With the win, Team USA finished the tournament with a perfect 6-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record enroute to its record 10th all-time gold medal in IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship competition and became the first team in the event’s history to earn a perfect gold, having never trailed nor tied after 0-0.
Jane Daley (Medfield, Mass.) was named the 2026 IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship’s Most Valuable Player. She finished the tournament with 12 goals, a new IIHF single-tournament record at an Under-18 Women’s Worlds, breaking Haley Skarupa’s record of 11 goals, set back in 2012.
“Our players have been training and buying in every day, all the time,” said Courtney Kennedy (Woburn, Mass.), head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team. “Watching them choose time and time again to play the right way, it melts your heart. You want them to get that (gold medal), they dream of it. I’ll be thinking about that for a while.”
HIGHLIGHTS
Birrittieri made a stellar save to keep Canada off the board 41 seconds into the contest, as she slid across to deny a cross-crease opportunity.
Emily Pohl (Woodbury, Minn.) gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead at 14:08, as she scored on a net-front chance following a cross-ice feed directly off an offensive-zone faceoff from Talla Hansen (Wayzata, Minn.).
Birrittieri was sharp in the first frame, making 15 saves to keep her team ahead by one heading into the intermission.
Lindsay Stepnowski (South Glastonbury, Conn.) nearly doubled the U.S. lead at 12:57 of the second period, but her breakaway opportunity was denied by Canadian goaltender Lea-Rose Charrios.
Stepnowki solved Charrios with 1:43 remaining, find the back of the net on a snapshot from the slot on a rebound chance generated by a shot from Hansen to give Team USA a 2-0 lead.
Birrittieri kept her team ahead by two at 5:25 of the third with a sprawling save on a strong Canadian chance from the right faceoff circle. She closed the third period with 12 saves to complete her shutout.
NOTES: Bianca Birrittieri was named U.S. Player of the Game … Canada outshot the U.S., 38-27 … Both the U.S. and Canada went 0-1 on the power play … Jane Daley earned the Directorate Award as the tournament’s best forward and was named to the Media All-Star Team … Maggie Averill (Wayland, Mass.) earned the Directorate Award as the tournament’s best defender and was named to the Media All-Star Team.
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