USA 2, Canada 0

The Americans said going into this tournament and throughout it that the disappointment of last year's silver medal comibined with the confidence they gained beating Canada twice in the summer series would carry them through to a win this year.

And they were right. In a choppy, disjointed and fast-paced gold medal game, USA made fewer mistakes while their goalie, Bianca Birrittieri, was absolutely outstanding. The US seemed to weather the onslaughts better and make better decisions with the puck. The lack of settled zone time seemed to rattle Canada somewhat and they were prone to throwing long, low probability shots towards net, effectively turning the puck over.

All tournament Vicky Sunohara had talked about being strong on defense and coaching the players on not getting comfortable or lax just because they could against some of their earlier opponents. But when the US brought their speed and tried to get behind the defense, Canada was sometimes caught flat. And the US did a very good job of capitalizing on Canada's mistakes.

After a spectacular tournament from Rachel Piggott, she made an unforced error on Sunday, getting turned around along the back boards and ultimately running hard into her own goal post and knocking it off its mooring. The ensuing faceoff came to goalie Léa-Rose Charrois' left and the Americans ran a set play. Talla Hansen won the draw by tapping the puck through Piggott's legs and played it immedately to the low slow where Emily Pohl was waiting to tap it in to give USA the 1-0 lead.

Pohl said after the game that she and Hansen sucessfully used the play earlier in the tournament and it is something that has developed thorugh years of playing with each other back home in Minnesota. Hansen said she was planning a draw back to Lindsay Stepnowski, but when Pohl suggested the forward tap on this play, she was all in and the two executed it perfectly.

With zone time at a premium, the American transition game became the difference-maker. As everyone slapped at pucks, disrupted plays and broke up passes, possession changed in an instant and it was the US did the better job of picking off a puck and heading the other way.

It felt like an uncharacteristic performace for Léa-Rose Charrois as she struggled to control the puck on first touch and left a number of dangerous rebounds in front of the net. That combined with a turnover that led to the puck heading the other way gave the US their second goal. Chyna Taylor hed Hansen, who raced up the boards and cut in, putting a shot on net that Charrois blocked, but did not direct away from the net. The rebound stayed in the slot where Lindsay Stenowski was crashing and her shot doubled the lead.

I don't know if the moment got to Charrois, but this wasn't something I noticed from her elsewhere in the tournament. She seemed to seize up a bit and instead of catching, corralling or at least redirecting shots to the outside, she seemed content with making the stop and letting pucks hit her without much thought about what came next.

Canada continued the pressure, but never really felt like the found any comfort in this back and forth game. Both teams were 0-for-1 on the power play and kudos to the refs who let the play be physical without tipping over the edge into danger or chaos.

The game was a mess in the most complimentary way. The teams were so evenly matched that neither could really find an edge or advantage. That meant a lot of pesky play with slapped away pucks, blocks, lifted sticks and no flow. It wasn't the prettiest hockey, but it was very good hockey. It was two teams not wanting to cede an inch and I think the US just adjusted a little better to being pushed outside their comfort zone.

And also they had Birrittieri.

What We Learned:

• More records – This was USA's record-setting tenth gold in this tournament. They took an 8-7 lead in the all-time head to head with Canada in the U18 gold medal game. This was a "perfect gold" for Team USA. They never lost and weren't tied or trailing after the game was 0-0. No team men's or women's has ever done that at the U18 level. And no US team has ever run the table at any level.
• Puck luck – I don't know who they wronged but both Canada in this game and Sweden in the bronze medal game seemed to have some of the worst puck luck at the absolute worst time. Both teams had plenty of great opportunities at the goal front, but could not find the back of the net. Whiffs, bouncing pucks, near misses and more made it feel like the hockey gods were just not on their side on Sunday. Obviously none of it is pure luck and all of it is perception, but it sure felt like both teams were never quite in the right place at the right time to tap home loose pucks in the crease. In two close games, the margins were crazy thin and one different bounce could have changed a lot of things. Generally I don't find myself blaming little things, but since I personally watched several pucks go through the crease behind the goaltender, back door crashes where the stick never touches the puck and open shots get whiffed or mishit, it's difficult not to feel like to some extent, things weren't mean to go Canada or Sweden's way.
• Home curse? – To that end, Canada has hosted the U18 women's world championships three times and have never won on home soil.
• Feeling loose – It takes a ton of confidence to call up your own set play in a 0-0 gold medal game, but Emily Pohl and Talla Hansen did just that. The play includes a cheeky little tap of the puck through the opponents legs when you win the draw. Pohl and Hansen said it comes from years of playing together, but what struck me is how free and confident they felt to call their own number there. Particularly at this age, the players tend to come off a lot more robotic and uptight. Their media answers are parroting what their coaches have been telling them over and over. No one wants to make the mistake that loses the medal and everyone is concerned with impressing their Federation and making sure they're still in the player pool. So basically I love that Pohl and Hansen felt comfortable enough in their roles and what their coaches want and expect to pull that out there and that they pulled it off. Sure, we never saw the US lose, so take this with a grain of salt, but every post game the US players were full of personality. I don't think it's a coincidence that this is coming under Courtney Kennedy, who has no absence of presence herself. And I think it's a really good thing. There's a fine line between teaching the younger players and stifling them and I like that this team didn't feel like they'd been over molded.
• Moving forward – The oldest players at this tournament were born in 2008, the first year this tournament was held. There's still so much work to be done and so much farther to go, but we're at a point where the players who vie for the U18 Worlds Championships have never lived in a world where that wasn't possible. Some days it all feels really hard, but a fact like that reminds me that we actually haven't been doing this all that long and we've come a very long way indeed.

Standout Performances:

• USA G Bianca Birrittieri – I think most of us came in assuming Morgan Stickney would be the starter here after all the shutout time she logged last tournament. But Birrittieri shared duties with her early on and then took the three starts in the medal round and more than showed why she got the nod. It was Birrittieri that defeated Canada twice in the summer series, allowing just three goals on 52 shots over both. Though Courtney Kennedy was appropriately coach-y about praising all her netminders, it seems clear the Birrittieri earned the gold-medal game start in part because is the only USA goaltender to beat Canada in awhile. And she was stellar on Sunday
• Canada D Kate Viel – We didn't talk about defenders much for Canada this tournament, so it feels right to note Viel, who was always among the team lead in time on ice, who did a great job finding the balance between staying home and moving into the offense and who did a great job cleaning things up in front of her own net on Sunday.

Quotable:

“I tip my hat to Bianca (Birrittieri). She made some saves that stole momentum. There’s one save in a game that kind of seals things and puts the nail in the coffee. When (Birrittieri) made that one save on Milani on the left side, you could just feel it." - USA coach Courtney Kennedy

"They've been training and buying in every day, all the time. We worked really hard and we pushed them hard. We were on the ice a lot, and we did a lot of video, and we were kind of 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. And they chose to do that, and I think that is what, watching them today choose time and time again to play the right way." - Kennedy

"My grandma is from (Cape Breton). And when they announced the tournament was going to be in (Cape Breton) and I knew it was going to be my first time being a head coach, I knew my Nanny is making things work. I strongly believe in that." - Kennedy

"I couldn't have picked a better place to go and try to win a tournament. I felt like I wasn't just alone here. My grandma, my aunt, my uncle, who have passed. I know they were up there and we got (the gold medal)." - Kennedy

“It’s Canada’s home territory, but I like playing in opponents’ territory .That made us more hyped up. We play better when there’s more people and when the pressure is high. I honestly think it helped us in a lot of ways." - USA F Talla Hansen.

“Being able to step up, make saves, shut the crowd down, make it quiet - it’s awesome. They came in loud and well, they left quiet." - USA G Bianca Birrittieri.

“We get to play with each other outside of USA Hockey, so we’ve done that before. 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." - USA F Emily Pohl

"I thought we started really strong. I thought we had opportunities and we didn't bury the puck. There were times when we shot while we didn't have anybody driving the net and we gave their goalie confidence and didn't challenge her. You get one in, it could change the momentum. I thought we gave it everything we had. But the US are a very good team and they worked hard for 60 minutes, so not taking anytihng away from them." - Canada coach Vicky Sunohara

"I don't think anyone is putting more pressure than themselves on them." - Sunohara

"It's a privilege to work with them and be a little piece of their development and their group. I told them, 'You're going to have a lot of opportunities. Learn from this, but don't beat yourself up about it for too long.'" - Sunohara

"Personally, I think we outplayed them, but we just couldn't get on our chances. I think we came out, we played hard, we just couldn't finish. And that's just the game of hockey. It happens." - said Canada captain Hayley McDonald

“[The fans] mean so much to us, especially being on home ice. Having that crowd behind us was amazing. It is disappointing that we could not win gold for them." - McDonald

"It was an honour to have the trust and reliability that my teammates and coaches put on me [as captain] and I feel that the whole leadership did a really good job.” - McDonald

“We battled right to the end. We played a full 60-minutes and that is all that we could have asked for. Even though the results were not in our favour, I think our group did well and I am super proud of them. I learned a lot as a person and as a player. Even with a silver medal, I feel like I learned a lot more this week than what is around my neck.” - Canada F Kendall Doiron

Tournament notes:

Germany won the D1A tournament by one point over Japan and will be promoted to the top tier in 2027

Tournament Awards

• Tournament MVP
  Jane Daley (USA)
  
• Media All-Star Team
  Goaltender: Norina Schrupkowski (SUI)
  Defender: Maggie Averill (USA)
  Defender: Megan Mossey (CAN)
  Forward: Jane Daley (USA)
  Forward: Adrianna Milani (CAN)
  Forward: Sofia Ismael (CAN)
• Directorate awards
  Best goalie: Norina Schrupkowski (SUI)
  Best defender: Maggie Averill (USA)
  Best forward: Jane Daley (USA)

Photos:

(All photos: Nicole Haase)