LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Canada’s National Women’s Team has earned a berth in the gold medal game at the 2013 4 Nations Cup, beating Sweden 4-3 Friday to finish an undefeated preliminary round.

Canada will face Finland in Saturday’s gold medal game at Herb Brooks Arena in the Olympic Center, with face-off scheduled for 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The game can be seen live via webcast for a small fee at www.fasthockey.com. Live updates will also be available at www.hockeycanada.ca and www.twitter.com/hc_women.

Canada and the U.S. have met in every gold medal game since the first 3 Nations Cup in 1996, except for in 2001, when Finland won the silver medal.

The United States and Sweden will play for the bronze medal at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT on Saturday. That game can also be seen live through FASTHockey.

On Friday, Canada erased a 3-2 deficit after two periods with goals three minutes apart in the third. Natalie Spooner (Scarborough, Ont./Toronto, CWHL) scored her second of the game to pull the Canadians even, before Janya Hefford (Kingston, Ont./Brampton, CWHL) finished off a perfect pass from Catherine Ward (Montreal, Que./Montreal, CWHL) gave Canada the lead for good.

Canada finished in first place during the preliminary round, defeating Finland 3-1 on Tuesday and the United States 4-2 on Wednesday, in addition to its win over Sweden. Finland finished second, while the U.S. was third and Sweden settled for fourth place.

Canada has won 12 gold and five silver medals at the 3 Nations/4 Nations Cup since the tournament’s 1996 inception. Last November, Canada dropped a 3-0 decision to the U.S. in the gold medal game in Tikkurila, Finland.

Canada’s National Women’s Team for the 2013 4 Nations Cup includes:

• 15 members of Canada’s National Women’s Team that won silver at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Ottawa, Ont. (Agosta, Apps, Birchard, Bram, Hefford, Irwin, Jenner, Johnston, Labonté, Lacasse, Larocque, Spooner, Szabados, Wakefield and Ward);

• eight members of Canada’s gold medal-winning team from the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C. (Agosta, Apps, Hefford, Irwin, Johnston, Labonté, Szabados, and Ward);

• 17 players who represented Canada at the 2012 4 Nations Cup in Tikkurila, Finland (Agosta, Apps, Bendus, Birchard, Bram, Hefford, Irwin, Jenner, Johnston, Labonté, Lacasse, Larocque, Spooner, Szabados, Wakefield, Ward and Watchorn).

The 2013 4 Nations Cup will serve as an evaluation opportunity for Canada’s National Women’s Team coaching staff and Hockey Canada scouting staff for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. 

NOTE TO MEDIA: Francis Dupont, Hockey Canada’s manager of media relations, is on site at the 2013 4 Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y. He will be handling all interview requests and can be reached at [email protected].

For more information on Canada’s National Women’s Team and Hockey Canada, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/nwt, or follow along through social media at www.facebook.com/hockeycanada, www.twitter.com/hockeycanada and www.twitter.com/hc_women.