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Monday, April 7, 1997

CANADA 4, U.S.A. 3 (OT)
  
TEAM CANADA PROVES ITS METTLE: GOLD
                                    
 KITCHENER, Ont. (CP) -- Make it four -- and counting.
 Canada continued its domination of women's hockey on Sunday night,
defeating the United States 4-3 in overtime to win its fourth straight
world championship.
 Nancy Drolet scored her third of the game at 12:59 of overtime to
give Canada the gold and stretch the team's record to 20-0 in the
history of the women's world hockey championship.
 With a boisterous, flag-waving, sellout crowd of 6,247 on the edge of
their seats, Drolet scored the winning goal from a scramble in front
of U.S. goalie Erin Whitten, bringing an end to a back-and-forth game.

 Hayley Wickenheiser and Cassie Campbell drew assists. Canada outshot
the United States 9-5 in overtime.
 Canada led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 in the seesaw battle.
 Drolet, a native of Drummondville, Que., scored in the first period
and 11 seconds into the third while Toronto's Angela James had a
second-period marker.
 Alana Blahoski of the U.S. created a 1-1 tie in the second period and
Stephanie O'Sullivan made it 2-2 before the end of the middle frame
before Katie King set the stage for the dramatic finish with the
Americans' third goal.
 The Canada-U.S. rivalry is as old as the world championships
themselves.
 In each of the three previous tournaments, the teams had met in the
finals, with Canada winning 5-2 in 1990 in Ottawa, 8-0 in Tampere,
Finland in 1992 and 6-3 in 1994 in Lake Placid, N.Y.
 However, the gap was narrowing long before Sunday's thriller.
 Canada's only international loss came last October in Ottawa, losing
2-1 in overtime to the U.S. in a preliminary-round game of the Three
Nations Cup. The Canadians avenged that loss with a 1-0 victory in the
tournament final.
 Body-checking may be illegal in the rule book but that rule was
forgotten on the ice as the teams bumped and battled all over the rink
Sunday as referee Sandra Dombrowski of Switzerland let all kinds of
contact go.
 It created more a entertaining game than had been the standard in the
tournament, but only because the teams were of equal skill and could
match up evenly.
 Dombrowski was a little inconsistent -- hardly a shock considering
the skills she's used to seeing in Switzerland compared to this game
-- but her leniency generally provided for a game with a good flow and
high intensity.
 Notes: In the bronze medal game, Finland scored three goals in a span
of 3:25 late in the third period to beat China 3-0 ... Among the
spectators, stuck up in a booth away from the crowd, was television
commentator and women's hockey supporter Don Cherry.

SUMMARY

 First Period
 1. Canada, Drolet (Wilson, Diduck) 19:36 (pp)
 Penalties -- Sunohara Can (high sticking) 4:35, Wickenheiser Can
(interference) 5:31, Schuler Can (cross-checking) 12:57, O'Leary U.S.
(hooking) 17:32, Mounsey U.S. (body checking) 18:14.
 Second Period
 2. United States, Blahoski (Baker, King) 7:15
 3. Canada, James (Campbell, Wickenheiser) 9:21 (pp)
 4. United States, O'Sullivan (Granato, Mounsey) 14:14 (pp)
 Penalties -- Ruggiero U.S. (interference) 8:39, Campbell Can
(cross-checking) 12:23, Fahey Can (cross-checking) 16:17, Campbell Can
(body checking) 19:29, Granato U.S. (cross-checking) 20:00.
 Third Period
 5. Canada, Drolet (Hefford, Heaney) 0:11 (pp)
 6. United States, King (Granato, Blahoski) 2:26
 Penalties -- Hefford Can (hooking) 5:13, Bye U.S. (hooking) 16:35.
 Overtime
 7. Canada, Drolet (Wickenheiser, Campbell) 12:59
 Penalties -- Wickenheiser Can (slashing) 2:09, Ruggiero U.S.
(interference) 6:04, Movsessian U.S. (holding) 7:07.
 Shots on goal by
 U.S. 4 11 7 5--27
 Canada 12 7 7 9--35
 Goal -- U.S.: Whitten; Canada: Reddon.
 Power plays (goals-chances) -- U.S.: 1-8; Canada: 2-7.
 Referee -- Sandra Dombrowski, Switzerland. Linesmen: Johanna Kuisma,
Finland; Sigrid-Lis Nonis, Norway.
 Attendance -- 6,247.

SLAM! 

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