BRAMPTON, Ont. – Canada’s National Women’s Team finished just short in its bid for a third-straight IIHF Women’s World Championship gold medal, falling 6-3 to the United States on Sunday night.

Canada took an early lead on a power-play goal from captain Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que./PWHPA), but the Americans equalized before the end of the first period.

The cross-border rivals went back and forth in a fast-paced second period which ended with the Canadians in front 3-2 after 40 minutes thanks to a pair of goals four minutes apart from Brianne Jenner (Oakville, Ont./PWHPA). Renata Fast (Burlington, Ont./PWHPA) chipped in an assist on both Jenner goals.

The Americans tied the game early in the third period and took the lead for good with a pair of power-play markers in the final five minutes.

“Sometimes those games are difficult to process because everything is good, until it isn’t,” said head coach Troy Ryan (Spryfield, N.S.). “It just kind of took a turn with the two penalties and the U.S. capitalizing. All I said to the group after the game was I just wanted to spend time with them instead of having something big and magical to say. I’m proud of the group, they’ve been resilient through so many of things the last few years, and they deserve any of the good that comes to them. We put a lot of focus on being really good teammates; I think this group exudes that, and both players and staff will learn from what could have done better to not be in this situation.”

Following the tournament, Sarah Fillier (Georgetown, Ont./PWHPA) was named Most Valuable Player by media and Top Forward by the IIHF Directorate, and Ann-Renée Desbiens (Clermont, Que./PWHPA) was named Top Goaltender. Fast, Fillier and Poulin were named to the media all-star team.

A full game summary and recap can be found at HockeyCanada.ca.

“It’s hard to put into words right now,” said Poulin. “This one hurts, for sure, especially on home soil, but this group is very special; we’ll learn from it and move forward, but it’s a tough one to swallow.”

“I’m very proud; this is a really special group,” said Jenner. “I think there’s a bit of disbelief because in our dressing room we believed so much that we were going to find a way to win. It stings right now, but we will learn from it and we’ll be back.”

Canada was perfect through the preliminary round, finishing atop Group A with wins over Czechia, Japan, Switzerland and the United States, outscoring its opponents 18-4. Canada booked its spot in the gold medal game with a 3-2 overtime win over Sweden in the quarterfinals and a 5-1 semifinal victory over Switzerland.

In 22 appearances, Canada has captured 12 gold medals at the IIHF Women’s World Championship (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2012, 2021, 2022), in addition to nine silver (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023) and one bronze (2019).

Prior to the gold medal game, the IIHF announced that the 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship will be held Utica, New York, tentatively scheduled for April 4-14.

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or following along through social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.