Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via REUTERS
HERNING, Denmark – Team USA beat Finland 72-16 and got two goals from Amanda Kessel in a 6-1 victory in the preliminary round on Saturday, August 27 at the IIHF Women’s World Championship.
With a 1-0 lead after the opening 20 minutes thanks to a Jincy Dunne marker and a 28-2 lead, second-period power play goals from Abby Roque and Kessel sealed the deal for the Americans. The U.S. held the Finns to just seven shots in 40 minutes.
U.S. captain Kendall Coyne Schofield picked up assists on both power-play goals in the second frame, including a perfectly executed layup from under the left circle that led to Kessel’s tally at 17:11. the period.
Finland had a chance to come back when Ella Vitasuo found the back of the net 46 seconds into the third period on a shot that screened past the high blocker of U.S. goalkeeper Maddie Rooney, but Team USA answered right back with Kessel’s second of the contest. off a pass behind Taylor Heise’s back to restore his three-goal cushion. The Americans rallied on an empty netter by Hannah Bilka and a late point by Hannah Brandt to seal the 6-1 victory.
Rooney didn’t get much action until the third period, stopping 15 of the 16 shots he faced in his tournament debut. In total, U.S. goaltenders have seen just 23 shots in their two preliminary round games so far.
Finnish goaltender Anni Keisala stopped 66 of the 71 shots she faced for a .929 save percentage, despite giving up five goals.
The matchup was the 22nd meeting between the United States and Finland in Women’s World history, with the Americans holding a lopsided 20-1-1 record over the Finns.
Next up for the USA is a matchup with Switzerland on Monday, August 29 at 12 p.m. CT before the preliminary round ends against Canada on Tuesday, Aug. 30 at 1 p.m. CT.
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