Canada Gets Retribution in Four Nations Cup

The U.S. women’s national hockey team started off its stay at the Four Nations Cup with a shootout win over Canada, and the rematch between the two squads proved just as exciting. But this time, it was the host Canadians who came out on top, topping the American women, 3-2, in overtime on Saturday night in Newfoundland.

The U.S. team is coached by Harvard’s Katey Stone and featured three Crimson skaters—Julie Chu ’06-’07, Caitlin Cahow ’07-’08, and sophomore Josephine Pucci.

But the Canadian who proved to be the difference-maker was an all-too-familiar face for Harvard. Rebecca Johnston, a Canadian Olympic veteran who is also a junior at Cornell, scored both the first and game-winning goals for her team on Saturday.

Johnston’s first goal put Canada up, 1-0, late in the opening period. But a pair of quick scores midway through the second gave the Americans a one-goal lead.

Chu tallied the first goal for team USA, knocking a backhand past Shannon Szabados at 9:07 of the second. Just over a minute later, Kendall Coyne—a skater currently taking a postgraduate year at the Berkshire School who has professed a desire to play college hockey at Harvard—put the Americans ahead.

Canadian Meaghan Mikkelson tied the score near the end of the second period, and the teams remained tied through the remainder of regulation.

Johnston’s golden goal came 6:25 into the four-on-four overtime period.

The U.S. player of the game was another fixture on the Boston hockey scene—BC goaltender Molly Schaus, who made 49 saves to keep her squad in the game despite being outshot, 52-26.

Stone and Pucci will be back with the Crimson this week, and their return couldn’t come sooner. Harvard is reeling after a winless weekend on the road at Quinnipiac and Princeton, and Pucci’s defense in front of struggling sophomore Laura Bellamy or untested freshman Lauren Joarnt in net will be crucial in this weekend’s home-and-home series with Dartmouth.