Alex Law scored twice, including the overtime winner, as Canada edged Finland 3-2 in a womenB次元官网网址檚 world under-18 hockey championship semifinal Saturday.
Canada will face Sweden for the gold medal Sunday.
LawB次元官网网址檚 OT winner at 7:32 was first credited to defender Ava Murphy, although it was LawB次元官网网址檚 wrist shot that sneaked under Kerttu Kuja-Halkola.
Murphy skated the puck from the defensive to offensive zone and dished to Law in open ice. LawB次元官网网址檚 shot got underneath FinlandB次元官网网址檚 goalie, who kicked the puck into her own net to end three-on-three overtime.
Law and Abby Stonehouse scored in regulation time for Canada with assistant captain Emma Pais contributing a pair of assists for the defending champions.
Canadian goaltender Hannah Clark stopped 24 shots for the victory.
Sanni Vanhanen and Paulina Salonen scored for the Finns. Kuja-Halkola made 38 saves in the loss.
B次元官网网址淚 think we came out a little flat. The Finns came out flying, had a great forecheck going that really took away our speed,B次元官网网址� said Canadian coach Courtney Birchard-Kessel. B次元官网网址淚t took us a while to settle in and get our feet under us, but we found a way to win.
B次元官网网址淭his is such an amazing experience with your family watching back home, it is so exciting. Heading into the gold-medal game, I think it is an incredible experience; it is going to be packed playing against Sweden. It is something our players will remember for the rest of their lives.B次元官网网址�
Canada is chasing repeat gold in the womenB次元官网网址檚 under-18 tournament after beating the U.S. 3-2 in last yearB次元官网网址檚 final in Madison, Wis.
The Canadians killed off a too-many-player penalty starting at 2:10 in overtime in SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 semifinal. Canada took eight minor penalties in the game to FinlandB次元官网网址檚 one.
Canada trailed 2-1 in the third period when Law scored an equalizer at 12:39. She drove in from the wing and slung a wrist shot over Kuja-HalkolaB次元官网网址檚 right shoulder.
Salonen scored a go-ahead goal for the Finns just eight seconds into the third period.
Finland won the faceoff and pushed the puck into the offensive zone, where Salonen took advantage of a broken play to beat Clark with a low shot stick side.
The Finns trailing 1-0 after the first period, Vanhanen drew her team even at 11:56 of the second. She converted a rebound following Julia SchalinB次元官网网址檚 effort driving the net from the corner.
Stonehouse scored her second goal of the tournament tipping a Pais shot from the point by Kuja-Halkola at 9:47 of the opening period.
B次元官网网址淎s a team it was not a perfect performance, but through the 60-plus minutes we had perfect effort at least,B次元官网网址� said Law. B次元官网网址淲e gave it our all, worked as a team, moved the puck and it ended up working out in our favour.
B次元官网网址淲e have put so much work into this, (playing for gold) is something we have all dreamed about. We need to move the puck quickly, skate hard and have positive energy on the bench and I think we can take home gold.B次元官网网址�
Sweden doubled the U.S. 2-1 in SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 earlier semifinal to advance to the championship game for just the second time in the 15-year history of the tournament.
The U.S. fell short of the final for the first time and plays Finland for bronze Sunday.
Canada topped Pool A at 3-0 to earn a bye to SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 semifinal.
The Canadians had lost 4-3 to the Finns in a pre-tournament game, but thumped them 8-0 in the preliminary round.
Felicia Frank made 37 saves in SwedenB次元官网网址檚 net in the semifinal win over the U.S.
Defenders Mira Junkager and Astrid Lindeberg scored for the Swedes, and Lucia Digirolamo countered for the U.S.
Sweden reached the final in 2018 when they lost 9-3 to the Americans in Dmitrov, Russia.
Czechia doubled Slovakia 6-3 in the fifth-place game.
SlovakiaB次元官网网址檚 Nela Lopusanova, who is just 14 years old, was the tournament leader in scoring with nine goals and three assists in five games.
The Canadian Press
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