Arrivederci group stage, ciao quarterfinals!
Let the fun commence, because it’s officially time for the knockout stage in women’s Olympic hockey. The United States earned the top seed in the quarterfinals after a perfect run in the group stage in which they outscored their opponents 20-1 and shut out their Canadian rivals in the finale.
Now, the team is looking to ride that momentum until the wheels fall off. They’ll face an Italian team on Friday in the quarterfinals that’s making just their second Olympic appearance ever. (The last time Italy played hockey at the Olympics was in 2006 when they earned an automatic bid as hosts of the Turin Games.)
The Americans are steered by “Captain America” herself, Hilary Knight, who has already evened both the U.S. women’s Olympic goals record (14) and the U.S. women’s Olympic points record (32) during these Games. And, in her final Olympics, she’s thirsty for more.
Overall, the U.S. possesses an incredibly dynamic lineup from front to back and should have no problem utilizing all of its scoring and playmaking options to send the home country packing.
Team USA’s goalie Aerin Frankel has put up two shutouts already this Olympics and has plenty of enforcement in front of her, including Laila Edwards and Caroline Harvey (the team leader in points and assists in Italy) who have played lockdown defense so far in the tournament.
As far as offensive weapons, the United States is loaded with versatile options.
Hannah Bilka and Alex Carpenter lead the team with three goals each, but 12 different members of the squad have scored during the Olympics. Look for the U.S. to continue to spread the scoring love around and for the team to set and push their signature high-octane tempo throughout the quarterfinals.
Puck drop between the U.S. and Italy is on Feb. 13 at 3:10 p.m. ET NBCOlympics.com and Peacock.
