United States wins under-18 women's hockey championship with 5-1 victory over Czechia

ZUG, SWITZERLAND – Maggie Scannell and Haley Box scored 74 seconds apart in the first period, Kassidy Carmichael scored twice in the third period and the United States beat Czechia 5-1 to win the gold medal at the under-18 women's hockey world championships Sunday.

"It is awesome to get the win," coach Liz Keady Norton said after the Americans finished 6-0 at the tournament. "I am really proud of our group. I thought that we worked hard the whole way and so it was nice for them to be rewarded."

Ava Thomas added a goal and two assists as the Americans, who outshot the Czechs 39-20, won the tournament for the first time since 2020 and for the ninth time overall. Layla Hemp of Chanhassen made 19 saves for the Americans, who won bronze last year in Sweden after making the gold-medal game all 15 years of the tournament before that.

Scannell, the United States captain, scored the first goal at 10:23 of the first period after Thomas' cross-ice pass deflected off a defender. Box, from Eden Prairie and Scannell's teammate at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, doubled the lead at 11:37, scoring off a rebound from Margaret Averill's point shot for her fourth goal of the tournament.

Jordyn Petrie, another Shattuck product, was ejected early in the second period for boarding, but the United States killed off the five-minute power play. Czech captain Adela Sapovalivova made it 2-1 later in the period with a power-play goal, but Carmichael scored at 4:45 and 13:05 before Thomas added an empty-netter late.

The United States outscored its opponents 32-5 in the tournament, with Stillwater's Josie St. Martin leading the team with six goals.

The Czechs stunned Canada 4-2 in Saturday's semifinals. Canada beat Finland 8-1 for bronze Sunday and outscored opponents 45-6 in six games.