U.S. Gets 4th Shot At A Gold 3-Time Champion Canada Again Foe In Women’s Hockey Final

Canada, the United States, Finland. That finishing lineup has been the tradition in the three previous Women’s World Ice Hockey Championships.

Now, the United States is ready to move to the front of the line as the teams vie for medals today in their last official competition before the 1998 Olympics.

“We’ll look forward to playing a team that has many strengths and we’ll look forward to trying to expose their weaknesses,” goalie Erin Whitten said after the U.S. defeated China 6-0 on Saturday, earning yet another chance to knock off Canada in the championship.

Canada wrested a last-minute, 2-1 victory from Finland, which will again fight China for the bronze.

The four teams won Olympic berths in preliminary play, and will be joined in Nagano by Japan, the host country, and the winner of today’s Russia-Sweden game. It will be the first Olympics to include women’s ice hockey.

The Chinese were unusually quiet against the United States with only 14 shots on Whitten. China’s “Great Wall,” Guo Hong, had 32 saves.

“The Wall” began to falter on a power play, dropping the puck virtually onto the stick blade of Stephanie O’Sullivan, who shoveled it in at 12:05 in the first period.

“She usually gloves the initial shot, but tonight there were a lot of rebounds,” O’Sullivan said. “We knew we had to jump on the rebounds and hopefully she’d fall down.”

Tara Mounsey scored on a slap shot late in the period, and Shelley Looney, Karyn Bye, Laurie Baker and Gretchen Ulion added goals in the second and third.

In the early game, Vicki Sunohara scored her third game-winner of the tournament with 24 seconds remaining to give Canada a fourth shot at the title. Canada hasn’t lost a game in a world championships.

“I have one thing to say and that’s ‘Whew!”’ Canada coach Shannon Miller said.

Sunohara broke up ice with Geraldine Heaney, took her pass and faked Finnish goalie Tuula Puputti for the game-winner.

“I was wide open, and I don’t know if Geraldine has eyes in the back or side of her head or what, but she saw me,” she said.

It was a triumphant moment for Sunohara, a 1990 national team member who fought crippling depression after failing to make the 1992 squad.

Finland, which has won the bronze three times, opened the scoring 7 minutes into the game on a power play goal by defenseman Kirsi Hanninen. The quick-skating Finns held Canada to eight shots in the period, including one near-goal when the puck fluttered between Puputti’s pads and stopped just outside the red line.

Hayley Wickenheiser tied it 1-1 on a feed from Angela James at 5:27 in the second period.