By Canadian Press

Aerin Frankel stops 15, Laila Edwards scores 3 as US wins 5-0 over Finland at women’s hockey worlds

Apr 13, 2024 | 2:59 PM

UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — Aerin Frankel stopped 15 shots for her fourth shutout in five games, and Laila Edwards scored a natural hat trick as the United States beat Finland 5-0 in the semifinal round on Saturday, advancing the defending champions to their 23rd women’s world hockey championship gold-medal game.

Hannah Bilka and Savannah Harmon also scored for the Americans, who kept their perfect run intact in having appeared in every world championship final since the tournament was established in 1990. Edwards, one of four Americans making their tournament debuts, now has five goals to match tournament-leading teammate Alex Carpenter’s total.

The win sets up what could potentially be yet another familiar rematch against the U.S.‘s cross-border rival, Canada, in the gold-medal game on Sunday. The Canadians, who lost a 1-0 overtime decision to Team USA in preliminary round play on Monday, face the Czech Republic in the other semifinal later in the day.

The two women’s hockey global powers have met in 21 of 22 world tournament finals, with the only exception 2019, when host Finland beat Canada in the semis before losing to the U.S. in a 2-1 shootout. The Americans ended Canada’s two-year gold-medal run last year with a 6-3 win in the tournament played outside of Toronto.

Finland was making its first semifinal appearance since 2021, when it lost to the Americans and settled for a bronze medal by beating Switzerland.

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Sanni Ahola finished with 50 saves in a game Finland was out-shot 55-15 in a game played before a predominantly loud “USA! USA!” chanting crowd in central New York.

The shutout was the fifth of Frankel’s career in 11 world championship appearances, and fourth this tournament — one more than Canada’s Kim St. Pierre posted in 2005.

Frankel has allowed just three goals in five games this tournament, all coming on 12 shots she faced in a 5-3 win over Finland in the preliminary round.

The U.S. improved to 22-1 and a tie against the Finns in tournament play, and have won 14 straight meetings since a 1-0 overtime loss in a 2008 qualifying round game.

After Bilka scored 12:01 in, Edwards broke the game open with three goals over a span of 13:10 bridging the second and third periods, including her last two less than four minutes apart in the third period.

Edwards, coming off her sophomore season at Wisconsin, put the U.S. up 2-0 by beating Ahola high on the short side with a shot from the left circle for a power-play goal with 6:46 left in the second period.

Taylor Heise set up Edwards’ second goal 2:34 into the third period by digging the puck out at the boards and feeding her teammate for a one-timer from the right circle. Four minutes later, Heise drove to the net only to be stopped by Ahola, who was out of position to prevent Edwards from converting the rebound into the untended net.

Though outshot 22-4 in the opening period, Finland had two scoring chances late in the frame. Frankel stopped Susanna Tapani’s shot from the right of the net, and then hugged the post to prevent Petra Nieminen from jamming in the rebound.

Earlier in the day, former Northeastern University star and member of PWHL Boston, Alina Muller scored 4:07 into overtime in Switzerland’s 3-2 win over Germany in a placement-round game. The win secures Switzerland maintaining a spot among the top five nations in the A Group, while Germany stays in the five-nation B Group entering next year’s world championships.

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AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

John Wawrow, The Associated Press