BOISE, Idaho – The U.S. Women’s National Team dropped game three of the 2024-25 Rivalry Series, presented by Discover, 4-1, against Canada in front of a capacity crowd at Idaho Central Arena on Sunday.
“I thought we generated a lot of chances throughout the game, but we need to work on capitalizing on our opportunities,” said John Wroblewski (Neenah, Wis.), head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team. “Give credit to Canada, they scored early and didn’t let up. These three games showed us a lot, but we’ll go back to the drawing board and be ready to go for the remaining games in February.”
Canada opened the scoring, as Jocelyne Larocque capitalized on a net-front scrum to give her team a 1-0 lead just 3:30 into the game.
Moments later, Joy Dunne (O’Fallon, Mo.) sent Abbey Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill.) on a breakaway. Murphy challenged Canadian goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer but was unable to tie the game on the chance.
Aerin Frankel (Chappaqua, N.Y.) made a stellar save during Canada’s first power play of the night. She tracked a rebound and remained in position to deny Laura Stacey Canada’s second goal of the contest.
Sarah Nurse extended Team Canada’s advantage to 2-0 with a power-play goal with 10:41 left in the opening frame.
Hayley Scamurra (Buffalo, N.Y.) opened the second period with a shorthanded breakaway chance but was denied by Maschmeyer. Team Canada countered with an opportunity moments later with a shot that got past Frankel but rang off the crossbar.
Frankel made a pair of stellar saves, but a third chance in front of the net was cashed in by Kristin O’Neill as Canada extended its lead to 3-0 with 15:25 remaining in the second.
Team USA attempted to cut into the deficit near the midway point of the second on the power play. A cross-ice pass from Laila Edwards (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) gave Hannah Bilka (Coppell, Texas) a chance to give the U.S. its first goal of the night, but Bilka’s shot was denied by Maschmeyer.
Despite multiple opportunities for the U.S. throughout the rest of the middle period, the score remained 3-0 in favor of Canada after two frames.
