VANTAA 鈥� Marilou Grenier stopped 14 shots as Canada defeated the United States 3-0 on Sunday to capture the gold medal at the world women's under-18 hockey championship.
Dorothy Copetti and Stryker Zablocki had third-period goals to cement the Canadian win. Caileigh Tiller opened the scoring on the power play in the first as Canada outshot the U.S. 30-14, including by a 14-5 margin in the second.
Sydney Sawyer added two assists for the Canadians, who have now won eight gold medals at the U-18 worlds.
鈥淭his has been so amazing; we have such an amazing staff and have shared in all of this. I am so happy and so proud of everybody on our team,鈥� said head coach Vicky Sunohara. 鈥淲e spoke about getting one per cent better every day and the team really showed that. They wanted to get better every day and be better for each other. It was a full team effort all tournament long.鈥�
Grenier recorded her fourth win in as many starts. She finished the tournament with a 1.00 goals-against average and .935 save percentage, along with two shutouts.
Canadian captain Chloe Primerano of North Vancouver, B.C., was named Best Defender for the second straight year. She also joined Zablocki 鈥� who led the tournament in goals (8) and points (12) 鈥� on the media all-star team.
Earlier, Czechia defeated Sweden 2-1 in the bronze-medal final.
Canada advanced to the final with a 4-2 semifinal win over Czechia on Saturday. The Americans punched their ticket to the championship game by edging Sweden 2-1.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 12, 2025.
The Canadian Press
