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Four Ivies Win Gold at IIHF Women’s World Championship
Created: 4/13/2009 11:50:47 AM
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Courtesy of International Ice Hockey Federation and Yale Sports Publicity
HAMEENLINNA, Finland – It was gold for Team USA and for the Ivy League as the United States squad beat Canada 4-1 in the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women’s World Championship gold medal game at Patria Arena in Hameenlinna, Finland.
It was another classic duel between the two top teams in women’s hockey as it was anybody’s guess which would walk away with the gold until former Harvard standout Caitlin Cahow put in her second goal midway through the third period to give the Americans a 3-1 lead. The goals were Cahow's first of the event. The two-goal lead, with just over 12 minutes left, was the largest lead for either team.
Cahow’s second goal, assisted by former Crimson star and 2007 Ivy Co-Player of the Year Julie Chu, broke a 17-minute stalemate when she scored on a rare power-play chance on a one-timer from the slot. After the goal, U.S. goaltender Jessie Vetter had to earn her keep as Canada was desperate to cut the lead, but she stood firm and stopped the slew of shots. Canada pulled goalie Charline Labonte in the last minute of play, but it backfired when Hilary Knight put in the empty netter as the clock ran down.
Former Harvard standout Angela Ruggiero, a four-time first-team All-Ivy pick and 2004 Ivy Player of the Year and Yale senior Helen Resor, a 2009 second-team All-Ivy selection, helped anchor the U.S. defense and joined Cahow and Chu on the gold medal stand. For their performances in the event, Chu and Ruggiero were named Media All-Stars as one of the Best Forwards and Best Defensemen, respectively.
The Ivy League presence was also strong on the Canadian team that took home the silver medal -- Brown’s Becky Kellar, Cornell’s Rebecca Johnston (2009 first-team All-Ivy and 2008 Ivy Rookie of the Year), Dartmouth’s Gillian Apps (2007 Co-Player of the Year) and Cherie Piper, Harvard’s Sarah Valliancourt (2008 & 2009 Ivy Player of the Year), who scored Canada’s only goal in the title game, and Jennifer Botterill (four-time first-team All-Ivy and 2003 Player of the Year).
The United States won its second consecutive World Women’s Championship gold medal and its third in the nation’s history. The win puts the Americans ahead of Canada in the IIHF Women's World Ranking for the first time since the system was introduced in 2004. It is also the first time that the U.S. has beat Canada in back-to-back Women’s World Championships.
After a 9-0 win over Sweden in an exhibition game, the U.S. finished atop Group A with a pair of 8-0 wins over Japan (April 4) and Russia (April 6) to advance to the qualifying round, where a 7-0 blanking of Finland on April 9 secured the U.S. a spot in the gold-medal game. The U.S. and Canada also met in the qualifying round Friday, with the Canadians taking a 2-1 win, but Team USA answered with a dramatic victory in the gold medal game.
Up next for the Americans is the 2009 U.S. Women’s National Festival, which is held annually in Lake Placid, N.Y., in August and features the top women’s hockey players in the country competing for spots on the National Team. Following the festival, those selected for the National Team will go on the Qwest Tour. That series of 10 exhibition games runs from September 25, 2009, through February 4, 2010, and includes stops in 10 different locations throughout the United States. That includes one a short drive up the road from Yale at the TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden, Conn., where the U.S. will play the ECAC Hockey All-Stars on January 3. The final U.S. Olympic roster will be announced during the tour, and the team is scheduled to start competition at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver against China on February 14, 2010.
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Related Schools: Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale
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Related Sports: Ice Hockey
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