The United States women’s hockey team shut out Team Sweden, 5-0, on Monday and advanced to the gold medal game on Thursday.
Team USA is on a Roll
Team USA improved to 6-0 in the tournament and was ready for the match against an undefeated Sweden. They handled them swiftly, scoring four goals in the second period, and then hanging onto the 5-0 lead for the win in the third period. The game was textbook for the Americans. The most impressive goal came from Abbey Murphy, who had the puck, took her time, and sniped it over the goaltender’s left shoulder and under the post for the goal.
The U.S. has outscored their opponents 31-1 in this tournament; the only goal against came in the second period of their first game against Team Czechia. They also haven’t scored fewer than five goals in a contest, with six against Team Italy in the quarterfinals, and five against every other opponent.
The goaltending from Aerin Frankel was spectacular, but the defense really stepped up against Sweden. Megan Keller and Laila Edwards have been among the best defenders throughout the Olympic Games and deserve all their flowers. They’re relentless on the forecheck, and their offensive attack doesn’t give their opponents any chance to breathe. Head coach John Wroblewski’s squad has been a wagon and earned its chance to play for gold.
Team USA Needs to Stay Out of the Box
The one thing Team USA struggled with was staying out of the penalty box. In the second period, they took three penalties and almost let Sweden shift the momentum. The USA scored four goals in the second frame, but they were outshot 13 – 11.
Joy Dunne, the youngest player to ever play for the United States at 20 years old (from ‘Joy Dunne, U.S. women’s hockey’s youngest player, is making her mark at the Olympics’ – The Athletic, 2/12/2026), stepped up big on the penalty kill. She disrupted passes on the forecheck and had a couple of good pokechecks, one of which led to a breakaway, but she was stopped by goaltender Ebba Svensson Traff. Dunne was all over the place on the penalty kill and was the main reason it remained perfect.
The U.S. needs to be more disciplined in their final Olympic contest. Even a team as good as they are can only take so many penalties until it makes them pay.
Team Sweden Should Be Proud
While this isn’t easy to be shut out of a semifinal game, they’re a young team that will now play for bronze. Sweden needs to keep their head up and focus on playing Canada or Switzerland on Thursday. However, they held on until midway through the second period against the best team in the tournament.
Related: Guide to the 2026 Winter Olympics Women’s Hockey Tournament
Sweden had two straight shutouts heading into this one and let up only one goal in their first two contests. Head coach Ulf Lundberg might’ve been a little too quick, pulling Svensson Traff with just a few minutes left in the second after Team USA’s fourth goal, since she held on for as long as she could. Emma Soderberg came in, and not too long after, Hayley Scamurra scored to make it 5-0. Hopefully, Svensson Traff will remain confident heading into the bronze-medal game.
Sweden is rising up the ranks of women’s hockey. They have nothing to be ashamed of; they just had trouble keeping the puck out of their net against the best offense in the tournament.
Team USA will face the winner of Canada vs Switzerland (on now) in the gold medal game on Thursday, as they look to continue their run through the competition in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
