Team USA opened the game with pace and grit, holding off Canada’s initial push. With 8:33 remaining in the period goaltender Morgan Stickney (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) made two point-blank saves to keep the game scoreless.
With 13:25 remaining in the opening frame, Sade Sandilands beat a screened Stickney with a rising shot from just inside the blue line to open a 1-0 lead for the home team.
The U.S. held the first power play opportunity of the evening but could not find the back of the net. Just three seconds after the U.S. power play ended, Team USA went on the kill, where a rebound popped out to an unmarked Stryker Zablocki who beat Stickney for the second tally of the game.
The U.S. responded with three unanswered goals in the second to enter the third period with a 3-2 lead. Just 2:25 into the second frame, Megan Healy (South Burlington, Vt.) got the U.S. on the board with a power-play marker, converting a shot from the high slot past the blocker of Alyssa Barrette. Sydney Stoughton (Mason, Ohio) tied the game with 4:52 remaining in the second, going top shelf on a 2-on-1 opportunity. Just 1:35 later, Annabelle Lovell (Hingham, Mass.) opened the first U.S. lead of the game, going bar down on a breakaway opportunity.
