STOCKHOLM - The U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team posted a 10-0 win over Sweden here tonight at Stora Mossen Arena to advance to the semifinal round of the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's U18 Championship. Team USA finished the preliminary round atop Group B with a 3-0-0-0 record and will play in the semifinals on Friday (Jan. 7).

Alex Carpenter (North Reading, Mass.) andEmily Field (Littleton, Mass.) each tallied two goals and two asssists, while Amanda Pelkey(Montpelier, Vt.) added four helpers in the win.

"We did a very good job of being consistent and staying on our game for the entire 60 minutes," said Jodi McKenna, head coach for Team USA. "Again, it was a good demonstration of the depth of our lineup."

The U.S. built up an early 4-0 lead in the opening frame, with the first goal coming at 5:31 when Hannah Brandt (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) beat Swedish netminder Sofia Carlstrom with a rebound from the left goal line. Twenty-one seconds later, after Sweden was called for tripping, Carpenter completed a give and go with Haley Skarupa (Rockville, Md.) to make it 2-0.

Carpenter then struck again at 10:28, as she stickhandled through the left faceoff circle around Swedish players and fired a wrist shot into the near corner. Brandt also notched her second goal of the period when she swooped in on a loose puck in front of the Swedish net during a U.S. power play and found the open right side of the goal at 13:27.

On a power play early in the middle stanza, Field knocked in Pelkey's rebound for a 5-0 score at 2:58. The Americans added a pair of goals in the closing minutes of the period to open their lead to 7-0. Sydney Daniels (Southwick, Mass.) netted her third goal of the tournament with a low shot at 16:57, then Paige Savage (Carrollton, Texas) notched her first when she sniped a shot from the left faceoff circle at 18:20.

The Americans added three goals in the third period, first from Milicia McMillen (St. Paul, Minn.) at the 5:00 mark. Layla Marvin (Warroad, Minn.) then put one in at 11:43 when she skated in from the blue line and took a low shot from the slot. Field closed out the scoring with her second goal of the game at 17:14 after Brandt sent her a pass from behind the Swedish net and Field knocked it high glove side.

Megan Miller (Long Grove, Ill.) stopped all four shots she faced for the shutout, while Carlstrom and Elin Moberg combined for 50 saves in net for Sweden.

NOTES: The U.S. outshot Sweden, 55-4 ... Team USA was 3-for-6 on the power play, while Sweden was 0-for-4 ... Thirteen U.S. players factored in the scoring, with six having multi-point games ... The eight-nation tournament, being played for the fourth time, includes Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States ... Team USA captured gold in each of the first two years of the tournament (2008, 2009), followed by a silver medal in 2010 ...Jodi McKenna, the head women's ice hockey coach at Wesleyan Univeristy, is serving as head coach for Team USA. She is assisted by Brian Durocher, head women's ice hockey coach at Boston University, and Jennifer Kranz, assistant women's ice hockey coach at St. Cloud State University ...Follow @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for live scoring updates during the 2011 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship. Scores will be designated with #U18wwc ... Follow the U.S. Women's National Program blog here... Find USA Hockey on Facebook at Facebook.com/USAHockey and Twitter at Twitter.com/USAHockey.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 4 3 3 -- 10
SWE 0 0 0 -- 0

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Brandt (Field, Pelkey), 5:31; 2, USA, Carpenter (Skarupa), 5:52 (pp); 3, USA, Carpenter (Burke), 10:28; 4, USA, Brandt (Pelkey, Field), 13:27 (pp). Penalties: SWE, Kjellbin (body checking), 1:24; SWE, Lowenhielm (tripping), 5:42; SWE, Daniels (tripping), tripping), 12:14; USA, Savage (tripping), 15:11.

Second Period - Scoring: 5, USA, Field (Pelkey, Burke), 2:58 (pp); 6, USA, Daniels (Boulier, Ness), 16:57; 7, USA, Savage (Carpenter), 18:20. Penalties: SWE, Hedin (delay of game), 1:56; USA, Trivigno (boarding), 8:16; USA, Sylvester (holding the stick), 9:48; SWE, Johansson (delay of game), 9:48; SWE, Peterson (cross checking), 19:46.

Third Period - Scoring: 8, USA, McMillen (Carpenter, Savage), 5:00; 9, USA, Marvin (Sylvester, Burke), 11:43; 10, USA, Field (Brandt, Pelkey), 17:14. Penalties: SWE, Lowenhielm (tripping), 1:57; USA, Stecklein (delay of game), 6:45; USA, Burke (body checking), 19:21.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total

USA 19 21 15 53
SWE 1 1 2 4
         
Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Miller, 60:00 1-1 1-1 2-2 4-4
SWE, Carlstrom, 38:20 19-15 17-14 x-x 36-29
SWE, Moberg, 21:40 x-x 4-4 15-12 19-16

Power Play: USA 3-6; SWE 0-4
Penalties: USA 5-10; SWE 7-14
Officials: Referee-Sylena Mutsaers (CAN); Linesmen-Jonna Partanen (FIN), Zsuzsanna Sandor (HUN)