CANADA’S NATIONAL WOMEN’S TEAM TO PLAY FOR GOLD MEDAL AT 2012 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Canada’s National Women’s Team will face off against the United States for the gold medal at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, following a 5-1 semifinal win over Finland on Friday, April 13 at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

This will mark the 14th straight time that Canada and the U.S. have met in the final game of the IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship since the tournament’s inception in 1990. The gold medal game will air live on TSN and RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcasters, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on Saturday, April 14. Please check your local listings for broadcast times in your area.

In preliminary action, Canada finished second in Pool A with a 2-1 record, suffering a 9-2 loss to the United States on Saturday, April 7, before defeating Finland 3-2 on Sunday, April 8 and Russia 14-1 on Tuesday, April 10. The United States finished first in Pool A, defeating Switzerland 10-0 in Friday’s late semifinal.

In Canada’s semifinal earlier Friday, alternate captain Caroline Ouellette (Montreal, Que./Montreal, CWHL) opened the scoring just 3:32 into the game, with Laura Fortino (Hamilton, Ont./Cornell University, ECAC) adding another less than a minute-and-a-half later to make it 2-0 after the first period. After assisting on Fortino’s goal, Meghan Agosta (Ruthven, Ont./Montreal, CWHL) scored one of her own two minutes into the second. Finland got on the scoreboard on the man advantage midway through the period, but Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que./Boston University, HE) replied at 12:12 in the third and Courtney Birchard (Mississauga, Ont./Brampton, CWHL)  capped it off on a Canadian power play with 1:20 remaining on the clock.