Milan-Cortina: women’s hockey, USA to face Italy in quarter-finals after 5-0 win over Canada

Milan, 10 February (LaPresse) – The United States will be Italy’s opponent in the quarter-finals of the women’s ice hockey tournament at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. The American national team clearly dominated Olympic champions Canada 5-0 and finished top of their group. For those who expected a bitter confrontation between the Americans and Canadians, even in the stands given the political friction of recent months, none of this happened. The atmosphere in the stands was festive, with many families with children in attendance. The USA took an early lead, proving themselves clearly superior, as evidenced by goals from Harvey, Bilka, Simms and the first goal of the Games from Edwards, the first black hockey player in US history. Knight equalled the record for points scored by a US women’s hockey player at the Olympics. Knight provided the assist for Harvey’s opening goal, bringing her total to 32 points at the Olympics. This record equals that of Jenny Potter, who played in four Olympics from 1998 to 2010. The US captain received the assist retroactively after video review, more than 90 minutes after Harvey’s goal at the start of the game. Knight is competing in her fifth Olympics, at the Milan-Cortina Games, and had already equalled Natalie Darwitz and Katie King for the most goals in this stage, with 14. Canada was without captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who was sidelined with an injury.