VANCOUVER, British Colu-mbia, Feb 23, (AP): Haley Irwin scored two goals, Meghan Agosta set an Olympic record with her ninth goal, and Canada beat Finland in the semifinals 5-0 Monday night to secure its long-anticipated gold-medal meeting with the US team.
Cherie Piper and Caroline Ouellette also scored for the Canadians, who persevered through their closest game in a tournament dominated by the North American powers. Canada has outscored its opponents 46-2 in Vancouver.
The Americans advanced to Thursday’s final earlier Monday with a 9-1 victory over Sweden.
“I think you’re probably going to see the best women’s hockey game that’s ever been played,” said Canada’s Jayna Hefford, who added two assists to her 12 points in four games.
Shannon Szabados made just 11 saves for Canada, but Finnish goalie Noora Raty bedeviled the Canadian offense with 45 stops. She kept the deficit to two goals until late in the second period when Agosta broke Danielle Goyette’s mark for most goals at a single Olympics.
“I’m very proud, but it’s not about who gets a record,” Agosta said. “It’s about that one last game we’ve got to play, and that’s what everybody has been focused on.”
While the Canadian men’s team is causing worry across the country with its unimpressive start, the women’s team has done exactly what’s expected of a Canadian club — and done it with authority, even in the lowest-scoring performance by either North American team.
Canada is one victory away from winning its third straight gold medal in the sport they’ve largely dominated during two decades of international competition, although the Americans have been just as impressive in their march to the final, outscoring their four opponents 40-2.
The results of their meetings last year don’t provide much insight: The Americans won the world championship and the Canada Cup, but Canada won the teams’ six most recent exhibitions, including two one-goal victories around New Year’s Day.
“I think Canada has been a better team here than the USA,” said Raty, who plays for the University of Minnesota. “But if I have to say who I think will win, I’d say USA, because I play there.”
Canada scored less than 6 minutes into the game against Finland when Agosta made a backhand pass to Piper for a shot between Raty’s pads. Irwin added an unassisted goal late in the period, but Raty made a series of impressive saves while the puck rarely left Finland’s end.
There were noticeable rumbles of unease in the Canada Hockey Place crowd that watched the women’s 18-0 victory over Slovakia on the Olympics’ first full day of competition. This win wasn’t nearly as relaxing for the fans or coach Melody Davidson, who acknowledged earlier that a loss to Finland would have been “a disaster” for Canadian hockey.
“Nothing was given to us,” Davidson said. “We had to play hard through the whole game, and that’s what you want, to play against good competition.”
Although the Canadians played with the same power and speed, Raty was everywhere — blocking shots, scrambling across the crease and diving after loose pucks with an abandon she hadn’t previously shown in this tournament.
After 16 scoreless minutes in the second period, Canada finally breathed a bit easier. During 4-on-4 play, Tessa Bonhomme drove the net and drew two Finns away from Agosta, who flipped the rebound over Raty for her ninth goal in a breakout Olympics for Canada’s next big star.
Agosta nearly got another goal early in the third, but her shot improbably hit the butt of Raty’s stick and bounded away. Irwin followed up moments later with a score on a rebound of Rebecca Johnston’s shot.
Although the Canadians are heading into their toughest game, they won’t forget they’re playing at home: The crowd sang “O Canada” in the closing minutes against Finland, waving hundreds of flags and roaring at the finish.
“If Canada plays like this, they’re going to be tough to beat,” Finnish defenseman Emma Laaksonen said. “Especially in front of their home crowd.”