UTICA, N.Y. — Kirsten Sims scored 3 minutes, 38 seconds into overtime to lead the U.S. to a 1-0 victory over rival Canada in the qualifying round on Monday, winning the Group A title and advancing to the Women's Hockey World Championship playoffs. It was decided that I would come.
Aerin Frankel stopped 26 shots for her second shutout of the tournament, and defending world champion USA finished Group A play with a 4-0 record. Sims, 19, is one of four college recruits on Team USA and is coming off a season in which she was the leading scorer in women's college hockey at the University of Wisconsin.
Let's go, Simsy! ! ????????????#NCAAHockey X? ? ? ? @usahockey
pic.twitter.com/AOJGVrnVlR— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) April 9, 2024
Anne-Reny Desbiens stopped 29 shots, including the first six faced in overtime, as Canada (3-1) finished second in Group A.
The Americans will advance to Thursday's quarterfinals to face the third-place team in Group B, which will be decided after Tuesday's qualifying round. Meanwhile, Canada will face Sweden in the quarterfinals. This was a rematch of last year's World Championship quarterfinal, which Canada won 3-2 in overtime.
In overtime, both teams played 3-on-3, with Sims scoring to make it a 3-1 break after Canada's Breanne Jenner fell and spat the puck in the US zone. Caroline Harvey led the rush for the win down the left wing, centering on Sims, who was able to get the shot despite having her stick taken from behind by Canada's Jocelyn Larocque.
Larocque's backcheck changed the puck's trajectory and Desbiens was tricked into hitting it low between his skates.
The match was a relentless back-and-forth, typical of the decades-long rivalry between the sport's two powerhouses. The United States, which won 10 gold medals to Canada's 12, improved to 18 wins and 17 losses against Canada at the World Championships, with both teams currently tied for 98 points against each other.
The United States, which defeated Canada 6-3 in last year's world championship gold medal match, bounced back from losing four straight to Canada in the best-of-seven Rivalry Series held this winter.
It remains very likely that the two countries will meet again in the tournament final on Sunday.
With the assist, Harvey not only set up his college teammates, but also made up for missing a chance to take the lead on a 2-on-1 break 2:45 into the third period.
Taylor Heise, running up the right side, faked a shot and froze Deviance before sending the puck to Harvey, who lifted the puck over the net and missed across the open side.
About 20 seconds earlier, Desbiens broke down the left side to stop Abbey Murphy, who had set up Heise's pass on the post.
Canada trailed 7-0 in overtime and had several chances to score, only to be thwarted by Frankel.
With six minutes left in regulation, Frankel converted a strong shot from Emma Maltais from the left circle. And the goalie sharply dodged a shot from Natalie Spooner on a 2-on-1 break with 3:30 left in the second period.
