BEIJING, China — The U.S. women's hockey team is off and running at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Team USA had their first group round match of the hockey tournament against Finland on Thursday morning, and breezed by the Fins in a 5-2 victory.
The U.S. women are considered a heavy favorite to win gold or silver in Beijing - they were the 2018 gold medal winners and typically battle for global supremacy with their rivals Canada (who didn't show any mercy against Switzerland in their own 12-1 victory). You can watch the match on-demand, here.
Here's a look at how Team USA rounded out exactly the start they were hoping for against a competitive Finnish team:
- 1-0: Amanda Kessel dummied a centering pass and then snaked in herself, slipping one in with a clever play to get Team USA on the board.
- 2-0: A couple minutes later Alex Carpenter took a pass in the left circle and sniped one in for a power play goal.
- 3-0: Captain Kendall Coyne Schofield drove in from the right and fired a wrister past the Finnish goalie as Team USA began to put Finland in the rear-view mirror. Coyne Schofield added another just moments later to make it 4-0.
- 5-1: Carpenter buried her second, scooting one in from directly in front of the Finland goalie on Abby Roque's pass at the net.
Team USA will be in action again on Saturday night in Beijing (8:10 a.m. ET back home in the U.S.) against the Russian Olympic Committee team.