URL:http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/970404/939667.html The Ottawa Citizen Online Sports Page Friday 4 April 1997 GREAT WALL OF CHINA CRUMBLES Canada peppers goalie Guo in rout Martin Cleary The Ottawa Citizen Canada 7, China 1 KITCHENER -- The Canadian women's hockey team came facemask to facemask with the Great Wall of China here last night at the Memorial Auditorium. What an imposing sight -- not the 6,400-kilometre wall, which took 1,600 years to construct -- but rather a 5-9, 165-pound university phys-ed student named Guo Hong, China's nerve-free standup goalie. Guo, nicknamed the Great Wall of China after stonewalling the victorious but frustrated Canadians in their past two international games, looked more like the Berlin Wall in the eyes of coach Zhang Zhinan last night. After Guo allowed two goals in the first 8:34 of the first period, he tore her down and summoned her to the bench 25 seconds later as Canada's escalating confidence caught fire and sparked a convincing 7-1 victory. Defenceman Cassie Campbell, whose picture is plastered everywhere here advertising the worlds, and Lori Dupuis led Canada's attack. Dupuis had two goals and two assists, while Campbell scored two goals and one assist. The starting line of centre Hayley Wickenheiser and wingers Dupuis and Angela James hustled for eight points. Wickenheiser collected one goal and two assists while James earned an assist. Completing the scoring were Vicky Sunohara and Geraldine Heaney. Danielle Dubé's bid for a second straight shutout was ruined by Guo Wei's shorthanded effort in the third. Although Guo returned to start the second period, the damage had been done. China's defensive presence was gone and replaced by little-used Huo Lina, who allowed another three goals for a 5-0 deficit. Guo showed Zhang he made a mistake in lifting her by playing superb in the final two periods, allowing only two goals. The Canada-China match, which was played before a near-capacity crowd of about 5,457, was highly anticipated. First place in group A was at stake. Canada is the three-time defending world champion, while China is the great unknown, a team on the rise. Wickenheiser, Dupuis and James played inspirational hockey at both ends of the rink, accounting for three of the five first-period goals. But for the final two periods, the physical Canadians were out of form and frequently found in the penalty box. Guo couldn't be faulted on the first goal, a defection, but she left a sliver of space on the stick side and Dupuis made the surgical shot for the second goal. Canada, the group A champion at 3-0, will meet group B runner-up Finland in Saturday's semifinals at 1 p.m.. The other semifinal will see China, the group A runner-up, cross over to meet group B champion United States at 5 p.m. In group B, filling the net was the theme of the day as the United States downed Sweden 10-0 to finish first because of a better goal differential (plus-two) than runner-up Finland, which won 10-0 over Norway. U.S. and Finland tied for first with five points. Goal differential is goals against subtracted from goals for. Guo has been the foundation of women's hockey in China, which started 14 years ago from scratch. A goalie for all of her eight years in the game, Guo was identified early and has developed into one of the best on the women's scene. Watching videotapes of five-year-old NHL games, studying the Canadian and American goalies and facing a barrage of shots has made Guo, 23, the backbone of the Chinese defence. The world statistics show her improvement. Playing all 10 games at the 1992 and 1994 world championships, Guo was drilled with 269 shots and that doesn't include 55 goals. The number of shots she faced was almost twice as many as any other team. At the 1995 and 1996 Pacific Rim competitions, she trimmed her goals against average to 2.91 for 10 games. Copyright 1997 The Ottawa Citizen