Team USA Defeats Finland, 5-0, in Preliminary Round Match at Olympic Winter Games

MILAN – Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho/Seattle Torrent) equaled the record for the most career goals by an American in the Olympic Winter Games, as the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team defeated Finland 5-0 during the preliminary round of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.

“It’s crucial to be a team that understands how to manage their bounces, consistently support one another, and appreciate every puck,” stated John Wroblewski (Neenah, Wis.), head coach of the 2026 U.S. Olympic Women’s Hockey Team. “You can never assume you have the other team beaten until they are truly out of the game. We needed to maintain our strength for a complete 60 minutes, and we accomplished that.”

At 15:19 in the first period, while on a power play, Laila Edwards (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/University of Wisconsin) maneuvered the puck along the left half-wall before delivering a backhand pass into the slot to Alex Carpenter (North Reading, Mass./Seattle Torrent), who scored the opening goal with a one-timer into the top-left corner of the net. Megan Keller (Farmington Hills, Mich./Boston Fleet) also contributed an assist on the play.

GAME PHOTOS

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Team USA extended its lead 2:31 into the second period, when Abbey Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill./University of Minnesota) passed the puck across the slot to Taylor Heise (Lake City, Minn./Minnesota Frost) at the doorstep during a three-on-one situation, and Heise pushed the puck past Finnish goaltender Sanni Ahola. Britta Curl also received an assist on the goal.

Only 66 seconds later, Keller moved the puck to the top of the crease from the left corner of the offensive zone and then scored with a backhand shot, beating Ahola five-hole to increase the U.S. lead to 3-0. 

In the final moments of a U.S. power play with 10:43 left in the second period, Knight netted a goal from a short-side shot just above the goal line, tying the all-time goal record for an American at the Winter Olympics. Edwards and Keller provided assists on the goal.

Murphy added another goal with 4:04 remaining in the game, scoring with a back-door tap-in off a pass from Caroline Harvey (Salem, N.H./University of Wisconsin). Heise also assisted on the fifth and final goal of the match.

Aerin Frankel (Chappaqua, N.Y./Boston Fleet) recorded a shutout, stopping all 11 shots she faced for Team USA.

Team USA will return to preliminary round play on Monday (Feb. 9) against Switzerland at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. The game is scheduled to begin at 8:40 p.m. CET (2:40 p.m. ET) and will be available on USA Network and streamed on Peacock.

NOTES: Team USA outshot Finland, 49-11 … The U.S. converted 2-6 on the power play, while Finland did not have any power play opportunities.

HIGHLIGHTS

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