🇺🇸 United States 5-0 Sweden 🇸🇪
Olympic Semifinal
Unipol Dome, Milan 🇮🇹
Monday, 16 February 2026

Powered by four second-period goals, the ultra-dominant U.S. blanked Sweden 5-0 to advance to the Gold medal game at the 2026 Olympic women’s hockey tournament.

Emulating the 2006 and 2010 Canadians, the Americans have a shot at “perfect Gold” as they have never trailed or been tied after 0-0 at these Games.

On Thursday, the Americans, who have outscored their opponents 31-1, will face the winner of the Canada–Switzerland semi-final at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena for Gold. Sweden takes on the loser for Bronze. The U.S. owns two all-time Olympic Golds (1998, 2018), while Canada is the reigning Olympic champ.

“Whenever you’re competing for a Gold medal, that’s super-special, especially at the Olympics,” said the U.S.’s Kirsten Simms.

Forward Abbey Murphy shone with a goal and an assist. Cayla Barnes, Taylor Heise, Kendall Coyne, and Hayley Scamurra also scored for the Americans. Hanna Bilka chipped in a pair of helpers.

Coach John Wroblewski’s team has now had an amazing five consecutive shutouts and an Olympic-record shutout streak of 331:23. The last time the U.S. surrendered a goal was to Czechia’s Barbora Juříčková at 8:37 of the second period in the 5-1 American opening win.

“I think this is one of the best groups I’ve ever been a part of,” said star defender Laila Edwards. “There’s our depth, from the top down. Everyone plays a really good 200-foot game, and we just play well together.”

The U.S. outshot Sweden 34-23. U.S. goalie Aerin Frankel (Boston Fleet) got her third shutout, setting a new single-tournament Olympic record. Swedish starter Ebba Svensson Träff (Linköping) was pulled in favour of Emma Söderberg late in the second period after allowing four goals.

“I think we played really well,” said Swedish assistant captain Hanna Olsson. “It’s just a shame we couldn’t get one in and that we couldn’t keep them off the board for longer. That would’ve helped us today.”

Sweden went with six defenders in its first defeat in Milan as the skillful Jenna Raunio was unavailable to participate. Raunio is one of three Swedes, along with fellow blueliner Mira Jungåker and forward Hilda Svensson, who currently play for Ohio State.

At 5:09, Barnes made it 1-0, taking a feed from Kelly Pannek and whipping a high wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle past the Swedish goalie.

Struggling with the U.S.’s relentless pace, the Swedes were largely bottled up in their own zone in the first period. It took more than 12 minutes for Hilda Svensson to register Sweden’s first shot on goal. Svensson Träff stood her ground as best she could, denying Murphy on an excellent chance from the slot.

Early in the second period, the Swedes picked up their tempo, testing Frankel’s concentration with several tricky shots on net. But they couldn’t break through.

The U.S. doubled its lead at 9:09 on a beautiful play off the rush. Murphy flipped the puck ahead to Bilka, who sped into the Swedish zone and fed it over to Heise, whose shot squeezed through Svensson Träff and over the goal line.

Having killed off two minor penalties to Sara Hjalmarsson in the first period, the Swedes generated a few opportunities with a pair of 5-on-4 advantages, including a nice Josefin Bouveng tip. Svensson Träff was dialed in to foil Joy Dunne on a mid-period shorthanded breakaway.

At 15:12, Murphy made it 3-0 with a world-class release from the bottom of the right faceoff circle. Less than a minute later, Coyne tipped Edwards’ heavy centre point wrister past the goalie. That was it for Svensson Träff, as Söderberg took over between the pipes.

However, Söderberg couldn’t stop the U.S. attack. At 17:59, Scamurra added the fifth U.S. goal, bulling to the net to convert Britta Curl’s cross-ice pass.

The always-agitating Murphy continued to stir the pot, running over Söderberg behind the U.S. net and then dropping to the ice when Swedish blueliner Jessica Adolfsson gave her a shove. Both skaters were penalized on the sequence.

Winn praised Murphy’s multi-faceted style: “An unbelievable player. We’re so grateful to have her on our team. She’ll do whatever it takes, whether that’s a goal, an assist, or a big hit.”

In a low-event third period, the U.S. showed good composure to maintain its margin of victory.

U.S. defender Lee Stecklein discussed Frankel and her team’s shutout streak: “She’s an incredible goalie. I think we’re so lucky to have her back there. She makes our jobs really easy. But I think it is a full team effort we’ve got. I’m biased, of course, but great defencemen who are contributing offensively and defensively. And you’ve got the forwards committed to playing defence like we are, hunting pucks down, chasing, creating turnovers, making it so we don’t have to play in our zone as often.”

For Sweden, Svensson expressed a mixture of pride and disappointment: “I think we have done a really good tournament. Our goal was to take a medal, and we have still that chance, but I’m just a little bit pissed after this game.”

The Swedes have much to be proud of in Milan. Coach Ulf Lundberg’s squad won four straight games in regulation in Group B and then blanked Czechia 2-0 in the quarter-finals.

Sweden’s biggest moment in women’s hockey history was a miraculous 3-2 semi-final win over the U.S. 20 years ago at the Turin Olympics. Swedish goalie Kim Martin made 37 saves. Maria Rooth scored twice in the second period to tie the game up, and then Rooth and Pernilla Winberg both scored in the shootout to achieve victory. The Swedes claimed Silver with a 4-1 final loss to Canada – marking the only time the Gold medal game did not feature both the U.S. and Canada.

The Swedes have not medaled in senior international hockey since taking Bronze at the 2007 Women’s Worlds in Winnipeg. The Swedes lost their four other Olympic meetings with the U.S. in 1998, 2002, 2010, and 2014. But the nation that’s home to the SDHL is certainly on the right track in 2026.

BOXSCORE
1st Period
05:09 – 🇺🇸 EA GOAL – Barnes (Pannek, Stecklein)
08:21 – 🇸🇪 PEN – Hjalmarsson, boarding

2nd Period
26:00 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Scamurra, tripping
29:09 – 🇺🇸 GOAL – Heise (Bilka, Murphy)
29:30 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Simms, interference
35:12 – 🇺🇸 GOAL – Murphy (Bilka, Winn)
36:10 – 🇺🇸 GOAL – Coyne (Edwards, Keller)
37:59 – 🇺🇸 GOAL – Scamurra (Curl, Janecke)
38:25 – 🇸🇪 PEN – Adolfsson, roughing
38:25 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Murphy, interference

3rd Period
58:34 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Simms, cross checking

GOALTENDERS
W: 🇺🇸 Frankel (23-23)
L: 🇸🇪 Svensson Träff (19-23), Söderberg (10-11)

SHOTS ON GOAL
🇺🇸 13+11+10 = 34
🇸🇪 2+13+8 = 23

ROSTERS
🇺🇸 Goaltenders: Aerin Frankel, Gwyneth Philips. Defence: Cayla Barnes, Laila Edwards, Rory Guilday, Caroline Harvey, Megan Keller (A), Lee Stecklein, Haley Winn. Forwards: Hannah Bilka, Alex Carpenter (A), Kendall Coyne, Britta Curl, Joy Dunne, Taylor Heise, Tessa Janecke, Hilary Knight (C), Abbey Murphy, Kelly Pannek, Hayley Scamurra, Kirsten Simms, Grace Zumwinkle.
🇸🇪 Goaltenders: Emma Söderberg, Ebba Svensson Träff. Defence: Jessica Adolfsson, Linnéa Andersson, Mira Jungåker, Ida Karlsson, Anna Kjellbin (C), Maja Nylén Persson. Forwards: Josefin Bouveng, Nicole Hall, Mira Hallin, Ebba Hedqvist, Sara Hjalmarsson (A), Lisa Johansson, Thea Johansson, Lina Ljungblom, Sofie Lundin, Hanna Olsson (A), Hilda Svensson, Hanna Thuvik, Felizia Wikner-Zienkiewicz.

Article Credit: Milan 2026
Photo Credit: Milan 2026 – IIHF – HHOF – IOC