Team USA Women’s Hockey Is Dominating The 2026 Olympic Games
Women’s hockey made its Winter Olympic debut in 1998. Since then, only Team USA and Canada have won gold medals. In fact, six of the seven Olympics have featured Canada and the USA in the gold medal match, so the two countries have faced off (pun intended) many times.
Canada won the gold medal at the 2022 Olympics, so Team USA is out for blood at the 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina. They didn’t have to wait long to seek vengeance on our neighbors to the North, because we were put in Group A with Canada, along with Switzerland, Finland, and Czechia. Group B includes Sweden, Germany, Italy, Japan, and France.
First up for the USA was Czechia, which the women took down 5-1, followed by a 5-0 beating of Finland. Team USA won again, beating Switzerland 5-0. Their last game of pool play was against our biggest rivals, Canada, who were likely chomping at the bit to play the United States, as well.
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Canada went into the game on Tuesday (February 10) with a 4-1 win over Finland and a 5-1 win over Czechia. Their game against Switzerland is on February 12.
The Canada-USA matchup took place on February 10th, and the game made history in more than one way.
Team USA’s Caroline Harvey scored to get the game started, but she wouldn’t stop there. Harvey also contributed to the game with two assists. Hannah Bilka opened her scoring account in the 17th minute of the first period, doubling the USA’s lead. Bilka scored again during the second period, following a goal by Kirsten Simms, which was reviewed heavily by officials.
Laila Edwards, the first Black woman to represent the United States hockey team, scored her first Olympic goal to make it 5-0, becoming the first Black woman to score at the Olympics! She has proven her worth on the team, even before this game, notching two assists.
Hilary Knight also made history when she assisted the first goal of the game, allowing her to tie the all-time Team USA Olympics points record at 32, set by Jenny Potter, who played in four Olympic games from 1998-2010. Should she assist another goal or score one herself, she will officially break the record.
Additionally, Team USA made history by handing Canada their first-ever shutout in Olympic history.
If this type of history doesn’t give you a sense of American pride, we don’t know what will! Team USA will play Italy in the Quarterfinals on Friday, February 13th. Despite the loss, Canada has already qualified for the Quarterfinals, so there’s a chance of another Canada-USA match.
The semi-final games will take place on Monday, February 16th, and the Gold and Bronze medal matches will be on Thursday, February 19th. Tune in to keep watching Team USA on their road to win gold!