ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE, Czechia – The U.S. Women’s National Team topped Finland, 7-1, in the opening preliminary round game of the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship at Budvar Arena.
“It’s always nice to get the opening win under our belts,” said John Wroblewski (Nennah, Wis.), head coach of the 2025 U.S. Women’s National Team. “We got scoring from all areas of the ice today. We’ll use this game as a foundation as we move through the tournament.”
The U.S. jumped on the board first just 2:44 into the contest when Hayley Scamurra (Buffalo, N.Y.) stuffed a loose puck under the pad of Sanni Ahola for Team USA’s first goal of the tournament.
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Scamurra picked up her second of the contest just over two minutes later when a wrister from just inside the blue line found its way five hole on Ahola to double Team USA’s lead.
Kelly Pannek (Plymouth, Mich.) notched the U.S.’ third goal taking a down-low feed from Abbey Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill.) in the slot and lacing it over Ahola’s glove to give the U.S. a 3-0 lead.
In the waning seconds of the first, Aerin Frankel (Chappaqua, N.Y.) sticked aside two back-to-back chances from Finland to keep them off the boards.
Team USA picked up right where it left off, when 55 seconds into the middle frame Lee Stecklein (Roseville, Minn.) took a Taylor Heise (Lake City, Minn.) pass, carrying the puck in deep before cutting towards the net at the goal line and slipping it in five hole to open a 4-0 lead.
Finland broke the shutout on a power-play tally by Petra Nieminen with 11:56 remaining in the middle frame, but just 15 seconds later, Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho) responded with a tally of her own, putting the U.S. up 5-1.
Team USA added two quick goals in the first 2:07 of the final frame, when Heise and Pannek scored on back-to-back plays, just 22 seconds apart, giving the U.S. a commanding 7-1 lead that stood through the end of the game.
Frankel stopped 19 shots in net for Team USA.
Next up, the U.S. will take on host country, Czechia, on Friday (April 11). Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. CET (1 p.m. ET) and can be viewed live on NHL Network.
NOTES: Hayley Scamurra was named the U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. outshot Finland, 24-20 … Team USA was 0-1 on the power play, while Finland was 1-2 … Team USA’s sixth goal of the game marked the 800th all time goal at Women’s Worlds for the U.S.
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Source: usahockey.com