Women's Hockey | April 08, 2017

When Hilary Knight scored the game-winning goal just over halfway through the 20-minute overtime to give the United States a 3-2 win over Canada on Friday night, six Boston College women's hockey players were among the U.S. gold medalists at the 2017 IIHF Women's World Championships, which were played at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich.
 
The U.S.' 23-player roster included six Eagles – little more than one quarter of the roster – who put a bow on a whirlwind three-and-a-half weeks. Current juniors Kali Flanagan and Megan Keller joined four other former Eagles on the winning team: Alex Carpenter '16, Emily Pfalzer '15, Haley Skarupa '16 and Kelli Stack '11.
 
BC's "Golden Girls" have been prolific in the U.S.' recent run of gold medals at the World Championship. Stack earned her fifth gold medal at the event, Carpenter her fourth, and Pfalzer, Skarupa and Keller their third. Flanagan – who made her first-ever appearance for the full National Team at this year's event – earned her first gold.
 
But in mid-March, it was uncertain if the six Eagles and the rest of the National Team would take the ice at the World Championship. The full roster announced on March 15 that they would boycott the World Championship if a new labor agreement with USA Hockey – that also included commitments to development – was not reached. With less than a week before the Americans' opening faceoff on March 31 and still no agreement in place, it looked doubtful the originally named roster would defend its gold.
 
However, on Tuesday, March 28, an agreement was reached and the players gathered in Plymouth the following day – two days before the tournament-opening game against arch rival Canada.
 
The U.S. came out for its opening game on March 31 showing no effects from a very abbreviated training camp, overwhelming Canada in a result not reflected by the 2-0 score line. After a 7-0 win over Russia and a 5-3 victory over Finland to wrap up group play, the U.S. earned a bye into the semifinals.
 
Group B winner Germany upset Russia to advance to its first-ever semifinals at the World Championships, but what was becoming the tournament's juggernaut – the U.S. – was waiting. The Americans – and specifically, the Eagles – made a statement with an 11-0 win over the Germans, which included a combined 10 points from BC players. Keller and Stack each recorded one goal and two assists, while Pfalzer and Skarupa added one goal and one assist each. Carpenter capped the scoring with less than 10 seconds left in the game.
 
After Canada – which started the tournament 0-2 – defeated Finland in the semifinals, the 18th United States-Canada championship matchup was set.
 
Friday night, Canada took a quick 1-0 lead 1:01 into the game, the U.S. responded through Kacey Bellamy at 4:34. The up-and-down battle produced a scoreless second period and after the teams went into the third locked at 1-1, Bellamy scored again – off a backwards, between-the-legs pass from Knight – to put the U.S. ahead at 42 seconds into the final frame.
 
Nine minutes later, however, Canada pulled even behind Brianna Jenner's power-play goal that was originally waved off before video review confirmed the score. Neither team could crack U.S. goaltender Nicole Hensley or Canada netminder Shannon Szabados and the teams headed to overtime.
 
Midway through the 20:00 extra session, Knight converted on a feed from Kendall Coyne and the U.S. celebrated its fourth-straight World Championship title in front of a standing-room only crowd of 3,917.
 
Stack finished the tournament with five points (1 goal, 4 assists), while Keller (1 goal, 2 assists) added three and Pfalzer and Skarupa had one goal and one assist each. Carpenter – who scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the U.S. to the 2016 IIHF World Championship – had one goal. Flanagan was held off the scoresheet, but earned plaudits for her play as a rookie.
 
Among those in the crowd as the U.S. won? The BC women's hockey coaching staff, there to watch their flock of Eagles win another gold medal and continue to grow the Eagles' legacy in international hockey.