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USA-CAN Rivalry Continues to Shine as Opposing Countries Make Significant Headway

03/29/2014, 10:00pm MDT
By Rob Koch - USAHockey.com

The U.S. and Canada will compete today for a gold medal at the 2014 IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship in Budapest, Hungary, in what has become one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports. It’s also a story in the sports realm that doesn’t get the attention it fully deserves.
 
The U.S. and Canada are the toast of women’s hockey and benchmark teams to beat. It’s uncommon to see such dominance by two teams and the match-up between them has become the pinnacle of competition in women’s hockey at all levels. In the recent 2014 Olympic Winter Games, it was once again on display at its finest with a thrilling come from behind victory by Canada in overtime.
 
When these teams face off, it’s a North American border war that is equivalent of the Lakers-Celtics, Yankees-Red Sox and whatever other rivalry you want to point to. These games often seem to go to an extra session or end with a one-goal difference in highly competitive and entertaining games that rarely disappoint.
 
It’s fair to say that there is still a gap between these countries and those they oppose, but it’s also extremely important to note that in the years ahead, it’s less likely that we will see such a consistent match up in the finals due to a disappearing disparity as other countries quickly improve.  You can point to the semifinals here in Budapest as evidence to that. Canada was taken to the limit by Russia and won, 1-0, in overtime while Team USA was tied with the Czech Republic, 1-1, going into the third period in a game they eventually won, 3-1.  And just a year ago at this event, the U.S. beat the Czech team twice by duplicate scores of 10-0.
 
The ebb and flow of success will eventually include other countries that will wrestle away their share of victories, so be sure to cherish this rivalry while you can savor each and every hard fought battle.
 
The tournament is in its seventh year of existence and the two teams will look to break a deadlock between the countries. Each time they have met it has been with the gold medal on the line and each has won three times.
 
The players in today’s game already have a growing taste of the bitterness in this rivalry and will be sure to carry it forward with pride and passion. It sets up to be another classic chapter in this storied rivalry.

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U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team Blanks Germany, 11-0

01/07/2009, 11:30am MST
By U18 Women's World Champs

FUSSEN, Germany – Eight different players scored and Madison Packer (Birmingham, Mich.) and Amanda Kessel (Madison, Wis.) each accounted for three points, as the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team blanked host Germany, 11-0, here tonight at the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's U18 Championship at the Fussen Arena.

With the victory, Team USA holds a 2-0-0-0 record (W-OTW-OTL-L) heading into tomorrow night's (Jan. 7) third and final preliminary-round game against Sweden at 7:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. EST).

"Overall, having played back-to-back games, we executed some good plays," said Team USA Head Coach Mark Johnson, who is also the head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin. "The competition will get tougher starting tomorrow against Sweden - we've played two good games, but now we'll have the opportunity to really make some strides."

The U.S. squad opened the game by netting four goals in the first 20 minutes of play. AfterLyndsey Fry (Chandler, Ariz.) potted her third goal of the tournament to give Team USA an early 1-0 lead at 2:50, Kessel doubled the U.S. lead when she stole the puck during a German two-man advantage, skated the length of the ice, switched to her backhand in front of the net and put a shot above goalie Janna Ramajzl's stick side at 6:20.

The score went to 3-0 at 10:48, as Packer found Brittany Ammerman (River Vale, N.J.) at the top of the crease for a quick dump in. Ammerman then found the back of the net again at 14:38, this time after Megan Bozek (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) brought the puck in from center ice and took a hard shot from the left-side goal line. Bozek's rebound found its way to Ammerman, who tapped it in from the right post.

The Americans increased their lead to 9-0 with five more goals in the middle frame, starting with a pair of tallies 10 seconds apart in the first minute of play. Taylor Wasylk(Port Huron, Mich.) opened the period scoring at :45, followed 10 seconds later by Packer's second of the outing on a backhand shot. Caroline Campbell (Fordland, Mo.) was next to score for the United States, finding the top left corner with a slap shot from the right point at 11:08. Fry scored a second of her own at 13:26, as she put one between the legs of new German netminder Jule Flotgen. Jackie Young (Medford, Mass.) closed out the stanza with a power-play sniper from the top of the right faceoff circle to make it 9-0.

Wasylk and Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.) capped off the scoring in the third period at 8:30 and 13:17, respectively, to account for the 11-0 final score.

Corinne Boyles (Wheaton, Ill.) made eight saves to earn the shutout victory in net for Team USA.

NOTES: Taylor Wasylk was named U.S. Player of the Game ... Team USA out shot Germany, 73-8 ... The United States went 1-for-6 on the power play, while Germany was 0-for-3 ... Amanda Kessel leads the tournament with nine points (4-5) in two games.Madison Packer ranks second with seven points (2-5) ... Joining Mark Johnson on the coaching staff as assistant coaches are Katie King, head women’s ice hockey coach at Boston College, and Jeff Giesen, head women’s ice hockey coach at St. Cloud State University.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 4 5 2 -- 11
GER 0 0 0 -- 0

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Fry (unassisted), 2:50; 2, USA, Kessel (unassisted), 6:20 (3x5sh); 3, USA, Ammerman (Packer), 10:48; 4, USA, Ammerman (Bozek), 14:38. Penalties: GER, Rothemund (hooking), 3:23; USA, Packer (tripping), 5:03; USA, Pelkey (hooking), 5:47; GER, Anwander (hooking), 6:47; GER, Weisser (tripping), 17:33.

Second Period - Scoring: 5, USA, Wasylk (unassisted), :45; 6, USA, Packer (unassisted), :55; 7, USA, Campbell (Dempsey), 11:08; 8, USA, Fry (unassisted), 13:26 (4x4); 9, USA, Young (Kessel), 18:19 (pp). Penalties: USA, Decker (body checking), 13:05; GER, Eisenschmid (body checking), 13:05; USA, Brock (slashing), 13:52; GER, Strohmaier (interference), 17:34.

Third Period - Scoring: 10, USA, Wasylk (Kessel), 8:30; 11, USA, Decker (Packer), 13:17. Penalties: USA, Campbell (tripping), 3:53; USA, Fry (delay of game), 5:52; GER, Pokopec (tripping), 16:46; USA, Packer (slashing), 17:08; GER, Novotny (interference), 17:58.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 22 31 20 73
GER 3 2 3 8       

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Boyles, 60:00 3-3 2-2 3-3 8-8
GER, Ramajzl, 24:28 22-18 7-5 x-x 29-23
GER, Flotgen, 35:32 x-x 24-21 20-18 44-39

Power Play: USA 1-6; GER 0-5
Penalties: USA 7-14; GER 7-14
Officials: Referee-Marie Picavet (FRA); Linesmen-Annika Floeden (SWE), Evelyn Loretan (SUI)

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