VANCOUVER — Have silver medalists ever looked so glum?
With downcast eyes, the women of the U.S. hockey team were forced to listen as Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, NHL legend Wayne Gretzky and the crowd in an arena brimming with Maple Leaf pride belted the words to “O Canada” after the home team took the Olympic championship with a 2-0 victory.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” U.S. captain Natalie Darwitz said Thursday after the Americans lost to Canada for the seventh consecutive time.
Added teammate Kerry Weiland: “We trained really hard for a gold medal. . . . You can’t win gold without scoring a goal.”
Despite being given a 5-on-3 advantage twice in the game, the Americans were unable to get a single puck past Canadian goalie Shannon Szabados.
Szabados was so dazzling that during an intermission between periods, an excited fan dressed in red on the concourse advocated, “The guys’ team should pull (Roberto) Luongo and put her in goal.”
The speed of play, precise passing and the glove work of the 23-year-old Szabados, who grew up playing against boys in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, were dazzling.
“Who would have thought 30 years ago that there would be young women playing hockey in the Olympics? If somebody was inspired to think anything’s possible by our team, then that’s what life is all about,” said Jim Craig, the U.S. goalie who made the Miracle on Ice possible in 1980.
Marie-Philip Poulin put Canada on top 13:55 into the first period with a one-timer on a pass from Jennifer Botterill past U.S. goalie Jessie Vetter. About three minutes later, Poulin made it a two-goal lead when she beat Vetter with a shot to the glove side with the teams skating four- on-four following penalties.
Finland beat Sweden 3-2 in overtime in the bronze medal game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
