US women topple Finland to face Canada in Olympic final

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BEIJING, Feb 14, (AP): Hilary Knight had a goal and assist, Alex Cavallini stopped 25 shots, and the defending Olympic champion United States defeated Finland 4-1 in the women’s hockey semifinals at the Beijing Games on Monday to set up the sixth gold-medal showdown between the Americans and Canada. The cross-border rivals will play on Thursday after Canada erupted for five first-period goals over an Olympic record span of 3:24 in a 10-3 win over Switzerland earlier in the day.

The two world powers have played for the championship in every Olympic tournament but the 2006 Turin Games, when Canada defeated Sweden after the Swedes eliminated the Americans in the semifinals. This time, the U.S. is attempting to defend its title following a 3-2 shootout win at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, which ended Canada’s Olympic run of four championships. Cayla Barnes had a goal and assist, while Hayley Scamurra and Abby Roque, with an empty-netter, also scored for the Americans. Barnes opened the scoring 3:39 into the second period by pinching in from the right point to convert Hannah Brandt’s pass through the crease for a power-play goal. The tripping called against Finland’s Tanja Niskanen was questionable after it appeared the U.S. player fell on her own. Finland will face Switzerland in the bronze-medal game on Wednesday in a repeat of the same matchups from the world championship tournament in August, when Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in overtime of the championship game. Finland won bronze with a 3-1 win over the Swiss.

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