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| DENVER – Karen Thatcher (Blaine, Wash.) and Hilary Knight (Hanover, N.H.) both netted goals for Team USA, but the U.S. Women's National Team fell to Canada, 4-2, in Qwest Tour action here tonight at the University of Denver's Magness Arena. The teams will rematch on Tuesday (Dec. 15) in Calgary, before their final Qwest Tour meeting on Dec. 30, in St. Paul, Minn. "The last 10 minutes of the third period were encouraging for us," said Team USA head coach Mark Johnson. "Although the score wasn't in our favor, we're making progress in every game. Both the players and coaches are continually learning as we get ready for Vancouver." Canada opened the scoring at 10:14 of the first period with a goal from Gina Kingsbury. Meghan Agosta carried the puck along the blue line and sailed a shot wide to the right of Jessie Vetter (Cottage Grove, Wis.). The failed attempt bounced off the end boards to the left side of the goalmouth to a waiting Kingsbury, who knocked it into the open net. In the middle frame, Canada tallied two more markers to jump out to a 3-0 advantage. While on the power play, Rebecca Jonhston carried the puck down the left wing boards into the offensive zone. She curled back toward the blue line and sent a pass up to Catherine Ward at the point, who one-touched a pass to Sarah Vaillancourt in the left corner. Vaillancourt quickly passed to Marie-Philip Poulin in the slot, who fired a one-timer past Vetter low to the glove side. Less than a minute later, Caroline Ouellette's rebound goal extended the Canadian lead to 3-0. After Vetter thwarted both Jennifer Botterill and Jayna Hefford's attempts near the goalmouth, the loose puck found Ouellette's blade, who knocked a shot to the back of the net. Team USA closed the gap to 3-1 with a goal from Thatcher at 5:07 of the third period. Erika Lawler (Fitchburg, Mass.) sent a pass to Kerry Weiland (Palmer, Alaska) at the point, who fired a shot wide to left side. The attempt ricocheted off the end boards to Thatcher in the slot, who beat Canadian goaltender Kim St. Pierre high to the glove side. Canada responded 17 seconds later to re-establish its three goal lead. Agosta collected a Hefford pass in the neutral zone, drove down the right wing boards and cut toward the net, sliding the puck past Vetter low to the blocker side. Team USA made it 4-2 when Jenny Potter (Edina, Minn.) collected a Caitlin Cahow (Branford, Conn.) pass and fired a shot from the right hash marks that deflected off a Canadian defender and onto the stick of Knight, who fired the puck into the open net for the power-play marker at 17:33. NOTES: Erika Lawler was named U.S. Player of the Game ... Team USA was 1-for-6 on the power play, while Canada was 1-for-5 ... Coverage of the Qwest Tour can be found on QwestTour.com, as well as on the U.S. Women's National Team's Facebook page and on the Qwest Tour Twitter page ... Click here for Team USA's roster ... The 2010 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team will be announced on Dec. 17 at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. ... Mark Johnson, head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin, is leading Team USA through the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C. Dave Flint, head women's ice hockey coach at Northeastern University, and Jodi McKenna, head women's ice hockey coach at Wesleyan University, are serving as assistant coaches ... The 2009-10 U.S. Women's National Team will be centralized in Blaine, Minn., during the Qwest Tour. ABOUT THE QWEST TOUR GAME SUMMARY Scoring By Period
Second Period - Scoring: 2, CAN, Poulin (Vaillancourt, Ward), 6:30 (pp); 3, CAN, Ouellette (Hefford, Botterill), 7:28. Penalties: CAN, Vaillancourt (body checking), 1:57; USA, Engstrom (body checking), 5:05; CAN, Vaillancourt (body checking), 14:15. Third Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Thatcher (Weiland, Lawler), 5:07; 5, CAN, Agosta (Hefford, Ferrari), 5:24; 6, USA, Knight (Potter, Cahow), 17:33 (pp). Penalties: CAN, Irwin (high-sticking), 2:17; USA, M. Lamoureux (holding), 12:10; CAN, Irwin (hooking), 17:25.
Qwest Tour Schedule & Results
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