It’s not hyperbolic to say the loss that the USA women’s hockey team handed Canada on Tuesday evening in Milan was likely the worst in their Olympic history.
They had never been held scoreless before in the Olympics, and the 5-0 final score was the biggest deficit a Canadian Olympic team has ever had against the USA — men’s or women’s.
With the win, Team USA clinched an undefeated run through group play and now has all the momentum as the No. 1 seed heading into the quarterfinals, where it will face host country Italy.
The blowout wasn’t the only history made in the game — 22-year-old Laila Edwards became the first Black woman to score for the US women’s Olympic hockey team when she netted the Stars and Stripes’ fifth. Edwards, a senior at Wisconsin, is also the first Black woman to play for the US Olympic team.
Additionally, five-time Olympian Hilary Knight tied Jenny Potter’s all-time US Olympic points total, adding an assist to reach 32 points.
The American women have allowed only one goal in the four group-stage games and are the only team to boast a perfect penalty kill so far.
“I think it’s always great when you get a win like that,” said forward Alex Carpenter to NBC after the win. “From goalie all the way to [the defenders] and forwards, I think we put in a solid effort, and we pride ourselves on that part of the game.”
Defender Caroline Harvey — a teammate of Edwards at Wisconsin — and forward Hannah Bilka led the way offensively for the Americans. Harvey scored the first goal of the game just four minutes in and later added two assists, while Bilka scored the second and fourth goals.
Forward Kirsten Simms, another current Wisconsin hockey player, scored her first Olympic goal on the power play less than two minutes into the second period to put the Americans up by three.
Additionally, forward Abbey Murphy chipped in three assists. After the win, Harvey now leads the tournament in total assists with five, and Murphy is tied for second with four.
The US will face Italy in the quarterfinals on either Friday or Saturday, depending on how the rest of the bracket shakes out.
