Megan Keller was the hero as her spectacular overtime strike earned the USA the Olympic women’s ice hockey gold medal with a 2-1 win over defending champions Canada on Thursday.
It was the first time the Americans have won the women’s title since the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
Keller skilfully deked a Canadian defender and beat goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens just over four minutes into overtime.
Her goal sparked huge celebrations on the Team USA bench and among the thousands of US fans in the Santagiulia Arena in Milan.
“I’m lost for words. This is an incredible feeling. I love these girls so much,” Keller said. “This group deserves it. Just the effort and the faith that we kept through this four-year journey is something very special.”
In a tight final, Canada struck first through Kristin O’Neill’s backhander on a shorthanded play early in the second period, breaking the Americans’ 351-minute shutout streak at these Games.
Just as the Canadians appeared to be heading to victory, Hilary Knight pulled the USA level with a shot from centre ice to send the final into overtime.
Her dramatic strike with just over two minutes left in regulation gave Knight a record of 15 goals scored at Olympics by a US woman.
Keller ensured the USA didn’t need the 20-minute overtime in operation for Olympic finals as she used exquisite skill to win the game before being mobbed by her teammates as US head coach John Wroblewski wept with joy.
Desbiens said the winning goal had “squeaked in”, adding: “I’ll see that one for a long time.”
The Americans have now won three of the eight titles since women’s ice hockey entered the Games in 1998, with Canada winning the other five.
“It just shows how good those games are,” said Desbiens. “Each country plays with so much pride and those games are tough.”
Earlier, Switzerland won the bronze medal by defeating Sweden 2-1.
gj/nf
