Canada’s undefeated streak at the Under-18 women’s world hockey championship was broken on Sunday as they faced the United States in the gold-medal game. The Americans secured a 2-0 victory with goals from Emily Pohl and Lindsay Stepnowski, along with two assists from Talla Hansen. Bianca Birrittieri, the U.S. goalkeeper, made 38 saves to earn a shutout, while Lea-Rose Charrois stopped 25 shots for Canada.
Pohl opened the scoring for the U.S. at 14:08 in the first period, followed by Stepnowski extending the lead at 18:17 in the second period. In the bronze-medal final, the Czech Republic triumphed over Sweden with a score of 4-3.
During the preliminary round in Group A, Canada dominated with a 3-0 record, defeating Switzerland 9-0, Hungary 14-0, and Sweden 9-2. In the subsequent knockout stages, Canada continued their strong performance, beating Finland 12-0 in the quarterfinals and overpowering the Czech Republic 8-1 in the semifinals.