MISSISSAUGA, Ontario -- The Americans won the first Olympic women's ice hockey tournament two years ago, but they will not have the top seed when they come to Utah to defend their gold medal in 2002.
An aggressive U.S. team outskated, outshot and outplayed Canada for much of the way Sunday night, but the Canadians dominated the third period and overtime to beat USA 3-2 and claim their sixth consecutive International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Hockey Championship, and with it the No. 1 seed in the next Olympics.Tricia Dunn and Karyn Bye scored second-period goals for the U.S., but Canada's Jayna Hefford tallied twice in the third period to force overtime. About six minutes into OT, forward Nancy Drolet picked up a loose puck, skated near the face-off circle and fired a slap shot that bounced off the glove of U.S. goalie Sara DeCosta and into the net for the Canadian victory.
"I feel like I should have had it," DeCosta said. "I got a piece of it, not a big enough piece."
DeCosta, who was in goal when the U.S. beat Canada in the 1998 Olympic gold-medal game in Nagano, Japan, stopped 20 shots on the night.
It was a disappointing result for
the Americans, who were looking for their first world title. They outshot the Canadians 32-23 in settling for their sixth consecutive silver medal in this event.
"Canada just played great in the third period to mount a great comeback," said U.S. coach Ben Smith. "I thought our players, after the comeback, hung in there and had chances of their own. We just didn't have enough tonight."
Canada also defeated the U.S. in overtime in the 1997 World Championship game.
Dunn, who scored six goals in the tournament, said there is no reason why the Americans cannot defend their Olympic crown successfully in 2002.
"I'm pretty confident. We're going to work hard," Dunn said. "I think it's going to continue to be a battle (with Canada). It's a great rivalry for women's hockey. There's nothing better."
The teams will meet again this November in Provo in the Four Nations Tournament. Two U.S.-Canada exhibition games also are planned for Utah prior to the 2002 Winter Games.
The U.S. took a 2-0 lead before the game's halfway point when Bye, in front of the goal, redirected a slap shot by Sue Merz. The puck hit the pipe, bounced in front of the goal line, off the leg pad of the sprawling Canadian goalie SamiJo Small and into the net.
In retrospect, the U.S. could have used a third goal in the period.
"I thought the key to the period was the fact that Canada didn't crack," Smith said. "We had some pretty good opportunities, and they really stood tall in their goal."
Hefford gave Canada, and the Hershey Centre crowd of 4,890, new life when she picked up a loose puck deep in her own zone, skated the length of the ice and stuffed the puck in the net on DeCosta's stick side to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The U.S. had several good scoring chances before Hefford tied it up. DeCosta was already split-legged on the ice when Hefford, loitering in the slot, took a pass from Cassie Campbell. Hefford's first attempt hit DeCosta's pad, but she flipped it over the goalie's leg on the rebound to score with 6:26 left.
Earlier in the day, Finland defeated Sweden 7-1 for its sixth consecutive bronze medal in this event. Russia defeated China 4-0 for fifth place and the fifth and sixth seeds, respectively, in 2002.
Germany and Japan, the other two nations who competed in Ontario this week, will have a second chance to qualify for the 2002 Winter Games in the final Olympic qualification next February.