SOCHI, Russia — The work began before the U.S. women’s hockey team reached the medal round, before it arrived in Sochi, before the roster was even selected.
Four years ago, the Americans left the Olympics with a silver medal. And Julie Chu was determined to be back.
“When that buzzer goes off and it erupted in the arena and we fell short of our goal of being the best in the world, that hurts,” the four-time Olympian said after the United States beat Sweden 6-1 on Monday to reach the gold medal game in Sochi. “The last four years, that’s been our goal.”
Megan Bozek and Brianna Decker each had a goal and two assists, and the Americans outshot Sweden 70-9 to clinch no worse than a silver medal. The U.S. has medaled in every Winter Games since women’s hockey was added in 1998, and just once ”“ with a loss to Sweden in the 2006 semifinals ”“ failed to reach the Olympic championship game.
Canada, a three-time defending champion that has played in every Olympic final, will have a chance for a fourth gold in a row after a 3-1 victory over Switzerland later Monday. Not since the inaugural tournament in Nagano have the Americans beaten Canada, losing in the championship game in 2002 and 2010 and again in the preliminary round of the Sochi Games on Wednesday.
There are 11 players on the U.S. roster who played in the final in Vancouver, but Chu is the only one who was also on the team in Salt Lake City or Turin. She has two silver medals and a bronze.
“We’re going for a different color this time,” she said.
And coach Katey Stone would like to see her get it.
“It’s about time isn’t it? It’s time,” said Stone, who was also Chu’s coach at Harvard. “Julie’s been everything to the program, she’s been a youngster, she’s been a veteran … she’s been a mother to the younger kids. Kids like that don’t come around all the time. She’s a special one. I certainly hope she gets what she wants.”
In goal, Jesse Vetter needed just eight saves for the victory.
The U.S. scored five times in 47 shots on starting goalie Valentina Wallner before she was replaced in the second period by Kim Martin Hasson. The backup was the winning goaltender when Sweden upset the Americans in Turin, and she stopped 22 of 23 shots.
“We took Valentina out because she had a busy day at work,” said assistant coach Leif Boork, whose team will face Switzerland for third place. “We wanted to make a decision for the next game, the bronze medal game.”
Anna Borgqvist scored on a deflected shot past Vetter with just under seven minutes remaining to spoil the shutout.
Alex Carpenter and Kacey Bellamy scored in a span of 66 seconds in the first period, and Amanda Kessel gave the Americans a 3-0 lead before Sweden got off its first shot. The U.S. outshot Sweden 29-1 in the first period.
“That was not the start we wanted to have,” Boork said. “We knew before that it is one of the world’s best teams and they showed that today. We tried to play for the whole game, even if we were under hard pressure from the beginning. But it’s too big of a challenge for us at the moment.”
Canada 3, Switzerland 1
Not once in the five Olympics since women’s hockey was added to the Winter Games has Canada failed to reach the final.
They’ve got three gold medals and one silver so far. All that’s left in these Winter Games is yet another game against the U.S. to determine which medal they’ll bring home from Sochi.
The unbeaten Canadians clinched a spot in the Olympic championship game on Monday for the fifth straight time, beating Switzerland 3-1 in the semifinals. Natalie Spooner scored twice and Shannon Szabados stopped 21 shots to help the three-time defending gold medalists claim their Olympic birthright.
“We feel like we’ve prepared all year for this game,” Spooner said.
The U.S. beat Sweden 6-1 earlier in the day to reach the gold medal game, which it has not won since the sport’s Olympic debut in Nagano in 1998. Canada and the United States have won every gold medal and all but one silver in the sport’s Olympic history, and they’ve met in the final of every world championship since the inaugural event in 1990.
Canada beat the U.S. in the round-robin of the Sochi Games on Wednesday — the Americans’ only loss of the tournament. Canada and the United States also played seven times in the run-up to the Olympics, with the Americans holding a 4-3 edge.
“We’ve played a lot of great games against them,” Spooner said. “It’s going to be another one of those in the final.”
Melodie Daoust also scored for Canada, and five-time Winter Olympian Hayley Wickenheiser had a pair of assists to extend her Olympic career points record.
Florence Schelling, who went to Northeastern University in Boston, made 45 saves for Switzerland in what was the closest game against Canada in Swiss Olympic history. The Swiss will play Sweden on Thursday for the bronze medal.
“I think for us, it was a great game,” said Swiss coach Rene Kammerer, who described himself as “happy to be disappointed.”
“Months ago, if we lose to Canada just 3-1, it would be a great game for us,” he said. “I’m disappointed to lose. But, hey, it’s Canada, one of the best teams in the world, and we know it.”
Spooner scored 7:29 into the game after circling behind the net, putting a high wrist shot just beyond the reach of Schelling’s glove. She made it 2-0 on a power play less than four minutes later, and Daoust needed just 23 seconds after that to give Canada a 3-0 lead.
Jessica Lutz scored for Switzerland 5:14 into the second period to make it a two-goal game, and Szabados needed several good saves to keep if from getting any closer.
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