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This April in Espoo, Finland, US hockey player Annie Pankowski (Laguna Hills, California) managed to score an impeccable game-winning goal in the second period as America triumphed over Canada at 3-2. It was in the second game of prelim round play at the 2019 IIHF Women’s World Championship that the US Women’s University Team managed to score their history-making victory.
Commenting on the win, Bob Corkum (Salisbury, Mass.), head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team, noted that any time Canada and the US get together to play, the final odds always come down to the execution of the tiny details, making solid in-game decisions, and proving victorious in the special teams battle. Corkum further noted in his press statement that he is proud of the efforts put into the game by his country’s power play and penalty kill units, and enthused that they were certainly pleased to have walked away with the win.
Back-and-Forth Scoring Marks Kickoff
It was Idaho’s Hilary Knight who opened scoring for the US team at 4:23 into the opening period. Dani Cameranesi (Plymouth, Minnesota) stormed into Canada’s zone on a two-on-one, throwing a centering pass at Knight to push the 1-0 score. Just two minutes later, Canada would even out the score with a power play goal as Brianne Jenner shot from the face-off circle and Sarah Nurse capitalized on another opportunity to dominate the traffic in front of the US’s netminder, Wisconsin’s Alex Rigbsy.
With just 1:47 remaining on the clock, Canada’s defender Micah Zandee-Hart lost her edge and transferred the pick to Illinois’ Kendall Coyne Schofield. On the breakway, the latter player took a five-hole on Emerance Maschmeyer to nab yet another score. At that point, with Knight in the penalty box for her tripping infraction, Canada again evened out the playing field with Jenner tipping home Brigette Lacquette’s point shot to bring the score to 2-2.
After Canada and America exchanged scoring opportunities through most of the middle frame, it was Pankowski who tipped the scale with a shot from the right face-off circle, regaining Team USA’s lead with just 5:57 remaining in the second period. California’s Cayla Barnes also scored an assist on the play, while punters from every corner of the globe logged onto their bookmaking sites to enjoy some premium sports betting – or apostas esportivas no Brasil, for those as far afield as South America.
Rigsby Saves the Day with 31 Net Saves
Renata Fast of Canada was then called for the game’s ninth penalty at the beginning of the third period, giving the US another chance to boost its lead. However, Maschmeyer managed to make a glove save on Alex Carpenter’s blue line shot, holding the score at 3-2. Late into the third period, the US fended off Canada’s attack, killing its fifth penalty out of a total of seven penalties on America. After an admirable special teams effort, the score remained at 3-2 by the time the final buzzer had been sounded.
Overall, Alex Rigsby made a remarkable 31 saves in the net to seal Team USA’s win. After a brief celebratory period, however, the women were back on the rink to take on Switzerland in preliminary round play the following day, striving once more to achieve hockey glory for their nation.
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