Coyne Schofield scores twice, leads U.S. past Finland

UTICA, N.Y. — Kendall Coyne Schofield scored two goals in leading the defending champion United States to a 5-3 win over Finland on Saturday at the women's world hockey championship.

Abbey Murphy, Hilary Knight and Taylor Heise each had a goal and an assist to provide the rest of the offence for the U.S.

Aerin Frankel made nine saves as the Americans improved to 3-0-0 and sit atop Group A with nine points. Canada (2-0-0), who the Americans will next play in their final preliminary contest on Monday, is second with six points.

Elisa Holopainen, with two goals, and Sofianna Sundelin scored for Finland, which remained winless through three games at the tournament. Anni Keisala stopped 40 shots.

With the game tied 2-2 entering the second period, Heise and Coyne Schofield scored at 7:42 and 11:40 to give the U.S. a cushion. But Sundelin made it a one-score game with a breakaway goal, beating Frankel with a deke going to her backhand.

Coyne Schofield scored her second of the game 15 seconds into the third period to seal the win.

“You have to build in these tournaments,” U.S. head coach John Wroblewski said. “Fighting how we had to today adds a little bit of adversity and strengthens the group. It really gives us the opportunity to gel together.”

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GERMANY 4 JAPAN 1

Sandra Abstreiter made 30 saves in a near-perfect performance in Germany's 4-1 win over Japan on Saturday at the women's world hockey championship.

Jule Schiefer, Bernadette Karpf, Luisa Welcke and Nicola Eisenschmid scored for Germany, which improved to 2-0 at the tournament.

Akane Shiga had the lone goal for Japan, which fell to 1-1. Riko Kawaguchi stopped 25 shots.

After a scoreless opening frame, Schiefer picked up a loose puck in front and put Germany on the board first with a backhanded shot at 15:45 of the second period. Karpf doubled the lead at 18:23 when she tipped in a Carina Strobel point shot on the power play.

With 1:46 remaining in the third period, Welcke made it a 3-0 game. Shiga then trimmed the deficit, scoring off a rebound from a Ayaka Hitosato point shot 23 seconds later and Eisenschmid sealed it for the Germans 29 seconds after that.

The trio of goals that came in just 52 seconds served as a new record for the fastest three goals scored between two teams in a game.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 6, 2024.