U.S. Women's National Team Shuts Out Finland, 6-0,
VIERUMAKI, Finland -- Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho) scored twice to help lead the U.S. Women's National Team to a 6-0 victory over Finland in its final game of the International Ice Hockey Federation Twelve Nations Invitational Tournament Series. With the win, the U.S. improved to a perfect 6-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record in the tournament, having allowed only one goal in six outings.
"I'm very pleased with how we closed out the tournament today against Finland with a convincing victory," said Katey Stone, head coach of the 2011-12 U.S. Women's National Team. "Everyone was ready to go and played determined hockey."
Amanda Kessel (Verona, Wis.) opened the scoring at 14:19 of the first period with her second power-play tally of the tournament. Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.) and Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.) scored within a minute apart to extend the U.S. lead to 3-0 after one.
Jen Schoullis (Erie, Pa.) struck for her fifth goal of the tournament midway through the second period. Knight then lit the lamp at 16:22 of the middle frame to give the U.S. a 5-0 lead heading into the third.
Knight potted her second goal of the game and 10th of the tournament with less than three minutes remaining to close out the scoring.
Molly Schaus (Natick, Mass.) made seven saves in the first two periods before giving way to Jessie Vetter (Long Grove, Wis.), who turned aside all five shots she faced in the third. Overall, Team USA outshot Finland, 65-12.
NOTES: Brianna Decker was named the U.S. Player of the Game ... Hilary Knight (10-2) and Kelli Stack (4-8) led the team in scoring with 12 points over six games ... Jenny Potter served as the alternate captain for the match-up against Finland ... For Team USA's full roster, click here ... Katey Stone, head women's ice hockey coach at Harvard University, will continue to serve as head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team for the 2011-12 season. She will be assisted by Mark Hudak, women's ice hockey coach at Dartmouth College ... To follow the team in Finland, check out the blog.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring By Period USA 3 - 2 - 1 - 6 FIN 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Kessel (Decker, J. Lamoureux), 14:19 (pp); 2, USA, Coyne (Knight), 17:02; 3, USA Decker (unassisted), 18:02. Penalties: FIN, Rantamaki (hooking), 12:40.
Second Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Schoullis (Kessel), 10:03; 5, USA, Knight (Chesson, Stack), 16:22. Penalties: FIN, Niskanen (hooking), 2:16; USA, Decker (hooking), 6:35; FIN, Lindstedt (body checking),10:38; FIN, Rantamaki (hooking), 16:39.
Third Period - Scoring: 6, USA, Knight (Stack, Pucci), 17:15. Penalties: USA, J. Lamoureux (hooking), 5:29; USA, Duggan (slashing), 12:08.
