November 28, 2005
NR.154

CANADA’S WOMEN’S OLYMPIC CENTRALIZED TEAM
LOSES 2-1 IN A SHOOT OUT AGAINST TEAM USA IN
FIRST OF TWO PRE-OLYMPIC GAMES

COLUMBUS, OH – Canada’s Women’s Olympic centralized team lost to Team USA 2-1 in a shoot out in Columbus, OH on Sunday night, the first of two games in the United States on this road trip.

USA opened the scoring at 4:57 of the second period while skating four-on-four, breaking a 234:10 minute shut out streak since the USA had scored on Canada. USA forward Katie King fired the puck from the high slot that caught the shoulder of Canadian goalie Sami Jo Small, but it was not enough to stop the puck from crossing the goal line. The last time USA had scored a goal against Canada was four games previous to tonight, October 6th in Regina, SK when Canada skated to a 3-2 win.

Canadian forward Jayna Hefford scored the tying goal with a mere 3:12 left in the game as she broke down the right side and riffled a shot top shelf beating Chanda Gunn high on the glove side to force overtime.

Sarah Parsons was tonight’s hero as she scored on the USA’s fifth shot to give USA a 2-1 shoot out win.

The last time Canada lost to the USA was April 9th, 2005 in Linkoping, Sweden in the championship game of the IIHF World Women’s Championship, USA won 1-0 in a shoot out.

Sami Jo Small made 26 saves in the Canadian loss, but is was Jennifer Botterill who took home the player of the game honours for Canada. Chanda Gunn was named player of the game for the USA making 26 saves in the victory.

Canada will face the USA at 7:00pm CT on Thursday, December 1st at the United Center in Chicago, IL before returning back to Calgary on December 2nd.

The next game will not have radio or a televised broadcasts, but you can follow the games as they happen via www.hockeycanada.ca which will have real time on line scoring.

For interview requests or media information please contact Sean Kelso at (403) 880-5819 who will be traveling with the team.

Game summaries and stats for all of Canada's games are available at Hockey Canada’s official website at www.hockeycanada.ca» 2005-06 National Women's Team site.

» 2005-06 National Women's Team site