Revenge is a dish best served cold, and there are few venues colder than the Canada Hockey Place, site of MondayâÄôs Olympic semifinal between the U.S. WomenâÄôs Hockey National Team and Team Sweden. Four years after Team Sweden upset Team USA in a shootout semifinal victory, the Americans defeated the Swedes 9-1 . Team USA will advance to ThursdayâÄôs gold-medal game against the winner of MondayâÄôs late semifinal between Canada and Finland, which features Gopher freshman goalie Noora Räty. Former Gopher Monique Lamoureux led the Americans with three goals . Lamoureux transferred to North Dakota along with her twin sister Jocelyne Lamoureux after the pairâÄôs freshman year. Both are now members of Team USA one year after they were MinnesotaâÄôs two leading scorers. Team SwedenâÄôs goalie, Kim Martin, was pelted by the American offense, which outshot the Swedes 46-12. Martin compiled a 6-5-3 record for Minnesota-Duluth last season , before a season-ending injury Jan. 16, 2009, forced her to watch from the bench as her team reached the Frozen Four in Boston. Almost 30 years to the day after the âÄòMiracle on Ice,âÄô the menâÄôs team produced a small miracle of their own, defeating the heavily-favored Canadian squad 5-3 in its final preliminary game Sunday. The Canadians pulled within 4-3 on Sidney CrosbyâÄôs goal at 16:51 in the third. But Team USA pulled away with a hustle play from Ryan Kessler for an empty-net goal. Team USA goaltender Ryan Miller made 42 saves, while his teammates were only able to get 23 shots on goal. With the unlikely victory and Sweden defeating Finland, Team USA will have the No. 1 seed in the Olympic tournament. The Americans also earned an extra day off and will face either Switzerland or Belarus on Thursday.
USA women one win from gold
Men upset Canada to gain medal-round No. 1 seed.
by John Hageman
Published February 22, 2010
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