US Women Dismantle Czechia In Ice Hockey To Extend Opening Game Winning Streak At Olympics To 8-0

Team USA is looking forward to continuing its medal streak and bagging its eighth straight medal in the women’s ice hockey at Winter Olympics.

US Women Dismantle Czechia In Ice Hockey To Extend Opening Game Winning Streak At Olympics To 8-0

US Women’s Ice Hockey Team celebrating against the Czechia at the Winter Olympics opener (Image via @usahockey on X)

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The United States women’s ice hockey team started its group stage at the Milan Cortina Games with a scintillating win over Czechia. The Americans overpowered the Czechs 5-1 in a lopsided game at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Stadium.

The win marked the eighth straight Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament in which the United States has opened with a victory. On Thursday, after a slow start to the first period, Alexandra Carpenter of Seattle Torrent took advantage of a power play at the 15th minute to score the first goal of the game. In the second period, Joy Dunne and Hayley Scamurra scored one each to extend their lead to 3-0.

In the 8th minute of the second period, the Czechs scored through Barbora Jurickova. Hilary Knight slapped one into the net just three minutes remaining in the second period, and Scamurra scored her second goal of the game to seal the deal in the fifth period. This is the Czech Republic’s second time playing women’s ice hockey.

The streak began in 1998 in Nagano, when ice hockey was first introduced for women. In Nagano, the United States shut out the Chinese 5-0 in their season opener. They continued their streak of shutting out opponents in the opener with a 10-0 win over Germany in 2002 and a 6-0 win over Switzerland in 2006.

In Vancouver four years later, the American women met the Chinese once again in the tournament opener, a game they demolished them by 12-1. In the past three Olympics, Team USA’s first game has been against Finland. In Sochi and PyeongChang, they defeated the Finnish 3-1, while they took it up one step higher in 2022 with a 5-2 win.

The United States and Canada have been the dominant forces in the event, winning medals at every edition since the sport’s Olympic debut in Nagano. Canada leads the medal tally with five golds, two silvers, and one bronze, while the United States has secured two golds, four silvers, and one bronze. The Turin Winter Olympics in 2006 remain the only Olympics where the gold medal match did not feature a USA–Canada showdown.

Italy and Sweden also secured their first wins in women’s ice hockey

In Group B, Italy and Sweden won their first games of the season. The hosts, Italy, playing for the second time, defeated the French team, who are debutants in the tournament.

The Italian women’s team celebrating a goal against France (Image via @ItaliaTeam_it on X)
The Italian women’s team celebrating a goal against France (Image via @ItaliaTeam_it on X)

Gabrielle De Serres became the first French woman to score a goal in the Olympics, through an assist from Clara Rozier in the ninth minute during a power play. The Italians quickly rebounded and equalised in the tenth minute. They scored once more in the second period and twice in the third period to secure the country’s first win. PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres centre Kristin Della Rovere scored once and assisted another.

The Swedish women also secured their first win of the season yesterday. They defeated the Germans, who qualified after a hiatus of two editions. Montreal Victoire center Lina Ljungblom scored twice for the Swedes. Similar to the Italians game against the French, it was the eventual losers who scored first in the Sweden v/s Germany game. Germany scored through Katarina Jobst-Smith, who’s playing for the Vancouver Goldeneyes.

In today’s slate of games, the French were handed their second loss of the tournament. The Japanese women defeated the French 3-2, powered by goals from Rui Ukita, Makoto Ito, and Suzuka Maeda. De Serres scored her second goal of the tournament for the French. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic suffered its second loss of the season.

They tied 3-3 with the Swiss in the regular time. After a 15-minute goalless overtime, the game went into a shootout. After a long shootout, Ivana Wey scored the winning goal past Czech Republic’s Michaela Hesova to notch a win in Switzerland’s column

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