U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team Reaches Quarterfinals
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Already, sportswriters are beginning to invoke memories of the "Miracle on Ice" Hockey Team of 1980 when they write about the current U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team. In 1980, a hugely underdog U.S. team composed of amateur hockey players managed to capture the Olympic gold medal. To do so they had to beat the vastly favored Soviet Union team who had won the previous four Olympic Hockey gold medals.
This year's U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team has 15 college players who were selected to play after the NHL decided their players would not participate in the Beijing Olympics. The current U.S. team has won their first three games and has advanced to the quarterfinals.
The U.S. team first defeated the Chinese ice hockey team by a score of 8-0. The Chinese team has a number of foreign-born team members who were recruited to bolster an inferior hockey squad. Forward Sean Farrell, formerly a Harvard University player scored a hat trick and also had two assists.
In its second game, Team USA defeated Canada 4-2, breaking a 12 year drought against Canada. After Canada scored first, the U.S. team scored 3 straight goals. Canada cut the lead to 3-2, before Kenny Agostino scored to give Team USA a 4-2 lead.
On Sunday with a 3-2 win over Germany, the U.S. team assured their place in the quarterfinals by winning Group A. As they had against Canada, the U.S. team fell behind 1-0 as Germany scored a quick goal. Once more, as they had against Canada, the U.S. responded with 3 straight goals to take a 3-1 lead. Germany finished the scoring by cutting the lead to 3-2 which became the final score.
The U.S. will next play on Wednesday.
Sources:
- Greg Wyshynski. (10 February 2022). After slow start, United States men's hockey routs China in first Olympic game. https://www.espn.com/olympics/hockey/story/_/id/33260044/after-slow-start-united-states-hockey-routs-china-1st-olympic-game
- CNN. (12 February 2022). U.S. Men's Olympic Hockey Team Defeats Team Canada at a Winter Games for First Time in Over a Decade. https://people.com/sports/beijing-olympics-2022-us-mens-hockey-beats-canada/
- Greg Wyshynski. (13 February 2022). Team USA holds off Germany, wins Group A in Olympic men's ice hockey. https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/33281317/team-usa-holds-germany-wins-group-men-ice-hockey