The U.S. women's Olympic team made a valiant effort to overcome a three-goal deficit to Canada in the gold medal contest at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Thursday morning. Canada held on for a 3-2 win, however, capturing its fifth gold medal since women began competing in hockey 24 years ago.
Team USA was looking for its second straight gold — and third overall since 1998 — but came up just short. Hilary Knight scored a shorthanded goal to put the Americans on the board before Amanda Kessel potted another with just 12.5 seconds left, but there was not enough time to find the equalizer. Canada got a pair of goals from captain and Boston University's all-time leading scorer Marie-Philip Poulin. Sarah Nurse, who got the other goal, set the Olympic women’s record for most points in a single tournament (18), breaking Hayley Wickenheiser’s 16-year-old mark.
The Americans played with pace and outshot Canada by a 40-21 margin and held the advantage in positional play and scoring chances early on, but goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens faced the onslaught with poise and focus. She killed rebounds and stood up to heavy traffic in front of her net.
For Canada, which outscored the opposition 57-10 in seven games, it was the fifth gold medal in seven attempts, six of which have been played against the U.S.
We’ll look at the New England connections, keys to the game and anticipate what the future holds for area players in the coming international competitions and the Winter Olympics in 2026.
New England duo represented U.S. in Beijing
It was a tale of two tournaments for veteran forward Alex Carpenter (North Reading, Mass.) and teen defenseman Caroline Harvey (Salem, N.H.), the only New England natives on the Olympic roster.
Carpenter, a former Governor’s prep superstar and Patty Kazmaier Award-winning center at Boston College, scored four goals and seven points in as many games, tying her for third place in scoring on Team USA. A top multi-sport athlete and the daughter of former NHL forward and Stanley Cup champion Bobby Carpenter (Peabody, Mass.), she secured a second silver medal in the Olympics after being on the 2014 team. In the gold medal game, Carpenter played more than 21 minutes and was noticeable for her quickness and heady play with and without the puck. She assisted on Kessel’s late goal but unfortunately was not able to capitalize on her five shots, tying Hannah Brandt for second on the team behind Abby Roque’s 10.
Harvey, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin who doesn’t turn 20 until October, played sparingly in the tournament, including just 1:02 in the gold medal game. She is one of the key components of future U.S. Women’s Olympic and World Championship teams, however. Her skating and ability to move pucks north will serve her well as she gains more experience as a collegian and eventually turns pro. While Harvey is a player many wanted to see get more of an opportunity at these winter games, the experience will no doubt set her up for the next decade of top international competitions wearing the red, white and blue.
Knight, who played prep and pro hockey in New England, gave the U.S. hope in the second period when she took a nifty pass from Hannah Brandt and broke into on a 2-on-1, following her initial blocked shot to the net, sliding it under Desbiens at 16:39.
California native and Boston College product Cayla Barnes played more than 28 minutes on the back end, establishing herself throughout the tournament as one of the team’s defensive stalwarts with her quickness, great stick and dogged competitiveness. At just 5-foot-2, she was a staple for the U.S. throughout the competition, and at 23, the future for her is bright in international play.
Captain Kendall Coyne Schofield (Northeastern), along with Megan Keller (Boston College), Jesse Compher (Boston University) and Hayley Scamurra (Northeastern) were the other Team USA players with college hockey ties to Boston.
Canada’s best players were their best players
Like their male counterparts who fell to Slovakia in the quarterfinal game, the U.S. women played well enough to win this game. In the end, Canada’s top players stepped up and made the biggest difference when it mattered most, avenging the 2018 gold medal game loss.
Poulin led the way with a pair of goals, including the winning tally at 9:08 of the second period to give Canada a 3-0 lead. It started with an athletic play by Nurse to beat the U.S. defender to the puck in the offensive zone, pulling up with a sharp cut and stop, finding Brianne Jenner driving down the middle lane. Jenner’s shot was kicked out by netminder Alex Cavallini, but Poulin on the far side of the net grabbed the rebound and banked it off the back of Cavallini’s skate into the net for her seventh goal of the tournament and her seventh career goal in Olympic gold medal games. Poulin, who racked up 181 points as a Terrier from 2010-15, also scored the second goal of the game, stealing the puck away from defenseman Kelly Pannek in the high slot, wheeling around and firing a shot through a screen over Cavallini’s blocker.
Poulin showed poise and ability to come through in the clutch in the first period after Canada’s first goal scored by Natalie Spooner was waived off due to an offside challenge. Just 35 seconds later, when the USA iced the puck, Poulin won the offensive zone face-off, pulling the puck back to defenseman Claire Thompson. Her point shot went to the middle where Nurse was able to deflect it into the net for the lead that Canada never relinquished. Poulin’s three points gave her 17 points, just one behind Nurse for the team lead.
Nurse had a tremendous tournament, but she saved her best for the pivotal game, scoring one and starting the winning play by beating the U.S. player to the puck in the offensive end. Those plays were the difference between signing the national anthem and having to watch and wait for the song to finish.
In net, Desbiens stopped 51 USA shots during the preliminary round and followed that up with another 38 in the decisive contest. She made a huge stop on Keller. She also benefited from some puck luck, as Brandt was unable to fire a rolling puck into the empty side of the net early into the game, the shot hitting the outside and skittering away. She outdueled her University of Wisconsin teammate, Cavallini, providing Canada with top-shelf goaltending throughout.
With such a high-powered offense and good roster balance top to bottom, this Canada team will go down as one of the best Olympic squads of all time. There is no shame in losing to such a powerful group, but the Americans had their shot to pull off a major upset.
Final call: What does the future look like?
Up front, the loss of veteran Brianna Decker to injury was tough to overcome, and with Knight, Coyne Schofield and Kessel all 30 or older, USA Hockey will need to identify the next wave of front-line players and build better depth for future international competitions.
Carpenter will turn 28 soon, which puts her still in her prime in four years to be a leader and key cog on the next Olympic squad. Her five Women’s World Championship gold medals give her the experience and winning pedigree to help maintain the continuity up front as the inevitable losses of veteran players who have been mainstays on some very successful U.S. National Teams over the past decade.
Barnes and Harvey represent a solid future back-end core. They're smart, skilled and should be a duo that USA Hockey can rely on.
The 2022 U.S. Olympic women gave it a top effort and lost to a better team. There is no shame in that, as disappointing as the result was here. However, to continue to be able to keep pace with the powerhouse to the north, there’s a lot of work, development and innovative roster management decisions ahead.
