Team USA’s women’s hockey team is on an unprecedented run of domination at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
After making light work of Sweden with a 5-0 victory in the semifinals on Monday, the Americans have accomplished a record-shattering 331 minutes and 23 seconds of shutout hockey.
The previous women’s record heading into this year’s Olympics was held by the 2002 Canadian team, which went 199:35 without allowing a goal. In both men’s and women’s hockey, the 1924 Team USA men were the prior overall record holders, shutting out their opposition for 245 minutes.
Three different American goaltenders, Gwyneth Philips, Ava McNaughton, and Aerin Frankel, contributed to the present streak. Frankel allowed a goal to Czech forward Barbora Jurickova in the second period of the team’s first game and has since posted three shutouts. Philips and McNaughton have been perfect on the 27 total shots they’ve faced.
In Monday’s win, the Americans got goals from all over their lineup, with Cayla Barnes, Taylor Heise, Abbey Murphy, Kendall Coyne Schofield, and Hayley Scamurra all denting the twine. They are led in scoring at the tournament by defenseman Caroline “KK” Harvey, who has posted nine points (2g, 7a) in six games.
“I’ve been on a lot of teams throughout my career, but there’s something special about this one,” Coyne Schofield told Yahoo’s Jeff Eisenberg. “I think it’s ultimately how enjoyable it is to be in that locker room and how everyone is willing to do whatever it takes for this team, no matter what the role is.”
With the win, the Americans advanced to the gold-medal game, where they will take on their bitter rivals, Team Canada. The Canadians advanced to the final with their own win on Monday, a 2-1 decision over Switzerland.
In the two teams’ prior meeting in group play, the Americans won 5-0, but Canada was playing without superstar forward Marie-Philip Poulin due to injury. Poulin has since returned and scored both of the team’s goals against the Swiss, becoming the all-time leading goal scorer (20) in Olympic women’s hockey history.
The gold-medal game meeting between the two nations will be the seventh all-time, with the Canadians having a 4-2 advantage. Since women’s hockey joined the Olympics in 1998, only the US and Canada have taken home gold. Team USA last won gold in 2018 at the PyeongChang Olympics, beating Canada 3-2 in a shootout.
This year’s gold-medal game is set for Thursday in Milan at 3:10 pm ET.
