UTICA, N.Y. — Team USA defeated Canada 1-0 in overtime in the final preliminary round game for each team at the 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship on Monday night.
The latest edition of the heated Canada-USA rivalry delivered again this time in a fast-paced, physical game that, of course, needed extra time to be decided.
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Kirsten Simms scored the game-winning goal — her first goal and point of the tournament — with 1:22 left in overtime. Simms was the leading scorer in the NCAA this season with 75 points in 39 games, and was a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, which is given to the top player in women’s college hockey. The 19-year-old is making her women’s world championship debut.
KIRSTEN SIMMS FOR THE WIN!
The #Badgers sophomore scores the game-winning goal in OT to lift @usahockey to a 1-0 win over Canada!
🎥 – @TSN_Sports
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) April 9, 2024
“It’s an insane moment that I still can’t put into words,” Simms said. “I kind of blacked out in the moment, didn’t really know what was going on or if it actually happened. But obviously it was a super exciting moment and (I’m) super pumped that we pulled off the win.”
“It’s great whenever you can get a first and when it can be a first in overtime in such a big game in front of your home arena, it’s wonderful,” said American captain Hilary Knight. “I hope it’s the first of many for her and all the other young players that are joining our squad for the first time at this world championships, getting a lot of experience.”
Aerin Frankel, who led the U.S. to a gold medal at last year’s world championships, made 26 saves for a shutout. Meanwhile, Ann-Renée Desbiens was excellent for Canada, with 29 saves on 30 shots.
“That’s one of the better games I’ve seen her play and she’s played a lot of good ones,” said Canada coach Troy Ryan. “She just looked confident. One of those games you never think anything’s going to go by her.”
Ann-Renée Desbiens is something else. Huge save on Hannah Bilka to keep this game 0-0. pic.twitter.com/UrkPPJvyOb
— Hailey Salvian (@hailey_salvian) April 9, 2024
There were 4,017 fans in attendance at the game at the Adirondack Bank Center, a record for a hockey game at the arena.
“It just shows the growth in women’s sports and how far it’s come, especially in the last couple of years,” said Simms after the game. “It’s amazing getting to play in front of a home crowd and the fact that it was that many people and it set a record is super special.”
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With the win, Team USA clinched the top spot in Group A with a 4-0 record through the preliminary round. As the No. 1 seed, the Americans will get the more favorable matchups on the path to the gold medal game. The Americans end the preliminary round with the most goals in Group A (16), the best goal differential (plus-13) and three of the top five scoring leaders in the tournament – Kendall Coyne Schofield, Caroline Harvey and Alex Carpenter.
There are two games on the schedule Tuesday that will determine the Group B seeding and which teams make it to the quarterfinals. Team USA will play the No. 8 team — either China, Denmark or Japan — in the quarterfinals Thursday and then the No. 4 seed in the semis on Saturday.
The gold medal game will be played on Sunday at 5 p.m. Eastern.
The youth contribute
When Kirsten Simms pictured her first world championship goal, it was not the overtime winner in a rivalry game against Team Canada.
“I definitely did not think that was going to be the case,” Simms said with laugh. “But, I mean, I’ll take any goal and this one is extra special.”
Simms is one of five players to crack their first world championship roster in Utica, and one of 14 college players on the team. The U.S. has had a lot of turnover the last two years and is undergoing a bit of a youth movement — with veterans mixed in — with an eye toward 2026.
“We have sort of a two-pronged approach,” said Knight. “We have a lot of young players that are extremely skilled, super dynamic, and a veteran core that leads extremely well and works by example.”
At last year’s world championship it was Knight who was the hero in the gold medal game, with a hat trick to lead the Americans 6-3. After the game, coach John Wroblewski praised Knight and the veterans on the roster for carrying the team when it mattered most.
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The fact that it was a rookie in Simms scoring the game-winning goal to secure the No. 1 seed in the tournament is significant. Scoring in a potential gold medal game rematch is another task completely, but it’s valuable experience all the same.
“You can never take away this experience from them,” Wroblewski said. “This is ultimately what grows a player, is that type of environment. That’s why they’re here, to help us win, but also to learn.”
Was there a penalty?
Just before Caroline Harvey started the rush chance to Team USA, it appeared that she might have tripped Canada’s Brianne Jenner in the corner. There was no call on the play and Marie-Philip Poulin ended up being the only Canadian skater to defend against the trio of Harvey, Simms and Taylor Heise.
still trying to figure out if that should have been called anything. It looks like a standard sweep of the stick going for the puck. Jenner doesn't trip over the stick so she's slashed maybe? But I don't know if that gets called in OT anywhere pic.twitter.com/HRojUub6wp
— zoë (@zoeclaire_) April 9, 2024
Poulin seemed frustrated after that game that she screened her own goalie on the play, while Ryan seemed more concerned about the way the team set up in the offensive zone in overtime than any calls – or lack thereof.
“The mistake was probably more made on the offensive side of it, where I don’t know if there was necessarily an offensive play there to be had. One of the things we talk about a lot is if you get caught outside the dots in three-on-three, you got to find a way to get back inside the dots if you want to play offense or defense,” Ryan explained. “In that situation, we had (Brianne) Jenner (fall) down outside the dots. And then (Jocelyne) Larocque was kind of planted at the net like there was going to be some offense and there’s just not. You’re going to lose that race any day.”
What’s next for Canada?
Ryan said the team was not “overly stressed” about the result.
It was a close game between the top two teams in the world, and a learning opportunity heading into the medal rounds and a potential rematch of last year’s gold medal game between the two teams.
“You come into that game, obviously trying to win, but you’re trying to learn as much as you can about the opposition to continue to get better,” Ryan said. “I thought they were all over us at times in the first period, they looked fresh, they had a ton of speed. We found ways to get it back in the second period. I loved our penalty kill and then the third was kind of back and forth. So it’s just a game (where) you learn a little bit about each other.”
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As the No. 2 seed, Canada will play Sweden – the second-ranked team in Group B and the No. 7 team in the tournament – again in the quarterfinals. Last year, Canada needed overtime to beat the Swedes 3-2 after a stellar performance from goalie Emma Söderberg (PWHL Boston).
“They gave me some of the gray hairs I have,” Ryan joked after the game. “They have a lot of talent. There’s a lot of skill. Good goaltending. We’ll expect a good game from them for sure.”
It’s worth remembering heading into the medal rounds that winning the group can be a mixed bag when it comes to the end result of a tournament.
Last year, Canada won the group – after a nine-round shootout – and lost in the gold medal game. In 2022, Team USA won the group and lost in the gold medal game to Canada.
If these two teams meet again in the final, it should be another classic in the Canada-USA rivalry.
(Photo: Christinne Muschi / The Canadian Press via AP)
