U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team Downs Finland, 7-3
Feb. 15, 2006
TORINO, Italy -- Angela Ruggiero (Harper Woods, Mich.) scored two goals including the game-winner while Sarah Parsons (Dover, Mass.) had her second consecutive two-goal game as the U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team defeated Finland 7-3 at the Palasport Olimpico tonight. Team USA rebounded from an early deficit to record the win which sends the team to the semi-final game against Sweden on Friday (11 a.m. EST).
"We caught a huge goal on Parsons' second of the night," said Ben Smith head coach of the U.S. Olympic Women's Team. "I thought if we held our course and chipped away at the lead, we'd be able to come back. We did that and had a big third period."
Finland got off to an early lead when Mari Pehkonen picked off a centering pass and fired it to the high far-side corner just 13 seconds into the game. At 8:08 with Team USA on its first power play, Parsons took a pass from Krissy Wendell (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) at the top of the crease and shot it under the crossbar to even the tilt. With Team USA in the penalty box at 11:26, Emma Laaksonen gave the Finns a 2-1 advantage with a high shot from the doorstep.
Finland upped its lead to 3-1 on a five-on-three at 12:01 of the second. Kati Kovalainen carried the puck to the low slot and scored just inside the right post unassisted. Parsons added her second goal of the game with 66 seconds left in the second period, blasting a slap shot through a screen.
Less than two minutes into the third period, Katie King (Salem, N.H.) fired a shot from the slot that beat Finnish goaltender Maija Hassinen through the five-hole. At 10:16, Ruggiero notched the go-ahead goal when she took the puck the length of the ice and fired high to the far corner. Just 45 seconds later with Team USA on the man-advantage, Natalie Darwitz (Eagan, Minn.) weaved through the defense and pushed the puck in near the right post. Wendell made it 6-3 for the USA when she took a feed from Parsons at center ice, deked to her right, cut to her left and tucked the puck just inside the near post. Ruggiero wrapped up the scoring at 15:36 in the third period.
Notes: Team USA will not practice tomorrow ... Canada will play Finland in the other semi-final ... Several members of the U.S. Olympic Women's Team will tape an on-ice segment with Matt Lauer of NBC's Today Show during an evening session tomorrow ... Multi-platinum country music artist Jo Dee Messina visited the team after practice on Monday...Friday's semi-final contest against Sweden will be shown live on NBC at 11:00 a.m. EST.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring By Period
USA 1-1-5 -- 7
FIN 2-1-0 -- 3
First Period - Scoring: 1, FIN, Pehkonen (Rantamaki), 0:13; 2, USA, Parsons (Wendell, Potter), 8:08 (pp); 3, FIN, Laaksonen (Tuominen), 11:26 (pp). Penalties: USA, Kennedy (body-checking), 3:14; USA, Dunn-Luoma (hooking), 4:45; FIN, Kuoppala (interference), 6:58; FIN, Laaksonen (hooking), 9:16; USA, Kr.King (interference), 10:58; FIN, Kuoppala (boarding), 12:25; USA, Kauth (holding the stick), 16:16.
Second Period - Scoring: 4, FIN, Kovalainen (unassisted), 12:01 (pp2); 5, USA, Parsons (Chu), 18:54. Penalties: USA, Engstrom (holding), 4:29; FIN, Sirvio (body-checking), 4:59; USA, Resor (body-checking),7:14; FIN, Rantamaki (hooking), 8:52; USA, Stephens (hooking), 10:51; USA, Dunn-Luoma (checking from behind), 11:29; USA, Insalaco (hooking), 19:03.
Third Period - Scoring: 6, USA, Ka.King (unassisted), 1:28; 7, USA, Ruggiero (unassisted), 10:16; 8, USA, Darwitz (Wall), 11:01 (pp); 9, USA, Wendell (Parsons, Ruggiero), 12:18; 10, USA, Ruggiero (Darwitz, Stephens), 15:36. Penalties: USA, Potter (interference), 2:25; FIN, Pelttari (hooking), 2:25; FIN, Laaksonen (holding), 4:05; USA, Resor (interference), 7:03; USA, Gunn (delay of game), 8:46; FIN, Pelttari (body-checking), 9:13; USA, Stephens (hooking), 12:41; USA, Cahow (interference), 17:50; FIN, Laaksonen (tripping), 19:31.
| Shots By Period</td> | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total |
| USA | 7 | 11 | 6 | 31 |
| FIN | 8 | 4 | 3 | 15 |
| Goaltending (SH-SV) | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total |
| USA, Gunn (60:00) | 8-6 | 4-3 | 3-3 | 15-12 |
| FIN, Hassinen (60:00) | 7-6 | 11-10 | 13-8 | 31-24 |
Power Plays: USA 2-10; FIN 2-13
Penalties: USA 15-38; FIN 11-22
Officials: Referee- Stephanie Normand Linsmen- Klara Qualgliato, Kim Robichaud
Attendance: 7,697
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