It’s that time again, the Rivalry Series between Team USA and Team Canada returns for the fifth season and excitement could not be any higher. Both national teams are stacked with phenomenal talent that are incredible to watch no matter the occasion so the 2024-25 Rivalry Series is set to be one to remember.
The 2023-24 Rivalry Series was nothing short of thrilling. Team USA took a commanding 3-0 lead in the seven game series before Team Canada won the last four contests to win the series 4-3. It was the second straight year where the U.S. came out to a staggering lead, but couldn’t capture the victory. This year, with five games to play as part of the Rivalry Series (three in the U.S. in November and two in Canada in February), Canada was looking to take home a third straight win as the U.S. was hoping to change the past.
Courtesy of @usahockey
Game one was all Team USA as soon as the puck dropped. Aerin Frankel was between the pipes and put on an amazing performance, but the plethora of scoring was brought on by several Team USA players. The U.S. got to an astounding 5-0 lead thanks to two goals from Lacey Eden and tallies from Abbey Murphy, Savannah Harmon and Alex Carpenter. Hannah Bilka added onto the score with a goal early in the second before Canada found the scoresheet thanks to Blayre Turnbull and then Sarah Nurse. With the score now at 6-2, the final 20 minutes was still just as riveting but Team USA sealed the deal when Murphy scored her second goal of the game.
Courtesy of @hockeycanada
Team Canada came out with a vengeance for game two as they were hoping to even up the series. Gwyneth Philips got her first start in goal with the U.S. Women’s National Team and Team USA were looking to build onto their momentum from game one. Laura Stacey struck first to give Canada an early lead but Grace Zumwinkle evened up the score before the end of the opening frame. The second period was all Canada as Marie Philip-Poulin found the back of the net and Stacey scored again to get Team Canada ahead 3-1. Emma Maltais then added to the lead with a tally of her own to make the score 4-1 in the third. But then, Team USA staged an impressive three goal third period comeback in which Hilary Knight potted two goals and Zumwinkle added another to tie the game at 4-4. Overtime wasn’t enough to determine a winner so a shootout was necessary. After a five-round shootout, Chloe Pimerano scored what proved to be the winner by getting a puck around Nicole Hensley to get Canada the 5-4 shootout win to even the series at 1-1
Courtesy of @hockeycanada
Hilary Knight got an amazing homecoming when the Rivalry Series came to Boise, Idaho for game three. Unfortunately, the game did not go well for Team USA. Just 3:30 into the game, Jocelyn Larocque scored to put Team Canada up 1-0 and from there, Canada laid the pressure on. Nurse added to the lead by getting a puck past Aerin Frankel on the power play with about half of the opening frame left. Early in the second, Team Canada struck again; this time Kristin O’Neill found the back of the net putting Team USA in a 3-0 deficit. The U.S. finally got on the board thanks to a goal from Laila Edwards with just over six minutes remaining in regulation, but that excitement was short lived as Emily Clark responded to make the final score 4-1 Team Canada.
Canada now has the 2-1 Rivalry Series lead, but the next two games of the five game set won’t be played until February. Until then, many of the players on both national rosters will be playing in the PWHL’s second season and the others will be returning back to college to join their respective teams for another season. The remaining two games of the Rivalry Series are sure to be just as entertaining and women’s hockey fans everywhere will be patiently awaiting those contests north of the border in a few months.
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