Canada’s undefeated streak in the Under-18 women’s world hockey championship was broken on Sunday in the gold-medal match against the United States. The American team secured the victory with goals from Emily Pohl and Lindsay Stepnowski, supported by two assists from Talla Hansen, resulting in a 2-0 win. Bianca Birrittieri, the U.S. goaltender, made 38 saves to secure a shutout, while Lea-Rose Charrois, the Canadian netminder, stopped 25 shots.
Pohl opened the scoring for the U.S. at 14:08 of the first period, followed by Stepnowski extending the lead at 18:17 of the second period. In the bronze-medal final, the Czech Republic triumphed over Sweden with a 4-3 victory.
Canada dominated the preliminary round in Group A with wins over Switzerland (9-0), Hungary (14-0), and Sweden (9-2). They continued their strong performance by defeating Finland 12-0 in the quarterfinals and Czech Republic 8-1 in the semifinals.