| |
 | |||||
 | |||||
| |||||
Posted: Thur February 12, 1998 at 9:28 a.m EST United States 10, Japan 0 -------------------------Katie King recorded a hat trick and Shelley Looney and A.J. Mleczko each scored twice in the first period as the United States clinched a spot in the medal round by crushing hapless Japan, 10-0. King did all of her scoring over the final two periods, after the United States had built a 5-0 lead. She had the only goals of the second period, then completed the first Olympic hat trick in American history by scoring with 6:57 remaining in the third. The U.S. advances to play Canada , which defeated Finland , 4-2, in the gold medal game on Monday (Sunday in the United States). The Americans will first play their neighbors from the north in a meaningless preliminary-round game on Saturday. Looney's unassisted goal 3:55 into the first period put the United States ahead for good. After Mleczko got her first goal of the tournament, Team USA exploded for three scores in a 64-second stretch to take command. Sandra Whyte also notched her first goal at 13:32, Looney added a power-play tally at 14:14 and Mleczko got her second goal of the period just 22 seconds later as the U.S. drove Haruka Watanabe from the net. The Americans outshot Japan in the first period, 19-1, and kept pouring it on in the second with a 24-1 advantage. King spaced her goals just over 10 minutes apart as the U.S. carried a 7-0 lead into the final period. Power-play goals by Laurie Baker and Karen Bye opened a nine-goal cushion before King completed her hat trick. Baker finished with a goal and three assists for the United States, which ended up outshooting the host nation, 56-4. Yuka Oda replaced Watanabe to start the second period and made 32 saves for Japan (0-4), which has been outscored in the tournament, 40-2, and outshot, 213-23.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
|
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
|
