MILAN — The U.S. women’s hockey team cruised through the preliminary round with a perfect 4-0 record and now enter the knockout rounds with a quarterfinal matchup against Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The Americans are coming off a 5-0 victory over Canada, marking the first time the reigning champion Canadians have been shut out in the Olympics. Rookie defender Laila Edwards made history during the win by becoming the first Black woman to score a goal for the U.S. national team.
American captain Hilary Knight is closing in on some history of her own. Knight is one goal and one point away from becoming the U.S all-time Olympic career leader in both categories in her fifth and final Games.
USA TODAY is in Milan and providing live updates from the USA vs. Italy quarterfinal. Follow along:
6-0 USA.
Nadia Mattivi is called for an illegal hit. Hilary Knight is out there on the power play, setting up near the front or side of the net as she looks for a U.S. record. Italy kills the penalty.
Kristen Guerriero is called for cross-checking. Hilary Knight is out there. She’s stopped on a rebound as teammates try to set her up. Now Knight has gone to the bench.
Still 6-0 USA.
Hilary Knight gets a nice shot off against Gabriella Durante, but the goalie makes the save and holds on. 6-0 USA.
USA is up 6-0 and 20 minutes away from heading to the semifinals.
The USA dominated in the first period but could get only one puck past Gabriella Durante. They solved that in the second period with five goals. Kendall Coyne Schofield led the way with her first two goals of the 2026 Olympics. Laila Edwards, Britta Curl-Salemme (short-handed) and Hannah Bilka also scored and the game is getting chippy. Shots are 39-4 through two periods as Italy went 25 minutes without a shot.
Hannah Bilka extended Team USA’s lead to 6-0 over the Italians. Caroline Harvey picked up her second assist of the game. She leads the 2026 Games in points (9) and assists (7). Taylor Heise also picked up an assist on the goal. USA 6, Italy 0
Things are starting to get chippy between the USA and Italy. American Joy Dunne and Italian Franziska Stocker exchanged some words with each other after a hard hit and the two began pushing each other as the play continued on. Cayla Barnes was called for interference at the 15:19 mark to end a chaotic sequence. The crowd booed when Barnes was called for the penalty. Italy hits the crossbar. The USA kills the penalty.
Italy gets its first shot in 25 minutes.
The U.S. women’s hockey team was at a disadvantage after Rory Guilday was called for a penalty for boarding. That didn’t stop the Americans from scoring a shorthanded goal. Britta Curl-Salemme came around the back of the net to score Team USA’s fifth goal of the quarterfinal match. Joy Dunne earned the assist. USA 5, Italy 0
Rory Guilday is called for boarding. The USA scores short-handed to make it 5-0.
Alex Carpenter is back on the ice. She slammed her stick in frustration after being checked earlier in the period.
Laila Edwards has her second goal in as many games. Edwards fired a long-range shot to give the Americans their third goal in the second period with over 15 minutes left to play. Megan Keller and Tessa Janecke were credited with assists. USA 4, Italy 0
Kendall Coyne Schofield is having herself a night. She followed up her first goal of the 2026 Winter Olympics with her second goal a little more than three minutes later. Britta Curl and Grace Zumwinkle were credited with the assists. USA 3, Italy 0
Kendall Coyne Schofield has her first goal of the 2026 Winter Olympics. Coyne Schofield snuck the puck past Italian goalkeeper Gabriella Durante to give Team USA a 2-0 lead at the 1:41 mark of the second period. Caroline Harvey and Haley Winn were credited with the assists. Harvey is up to six assists on the tournament. USA 2, Italy 0
1-0 USA.
In the earlier game, Sweden advanced to the semifinals with a 2-0 win against Czechia. Hilda Svensson had a goal and an assist. Ebba Svensson Traff had a 29-save shutout.
Megan Keller scored the Americans lone goal at the 13:31 mark and goalkeeper Gwyneth Philips has kept the Italians off the board so far with a pair of saves. Italy’s Gabriella Durante has made some big saves. Team USA is outshooting the Italians 20-2.
Italy goalie Gabriella Durante reaches over to get her stick on an Abbey Murphy shot and deny her a goal. Durante also stopped Murphy twice at the end of and right after the USA power play.
Simultaneous chants of “Italia” and “USA” going on.
Team USA is the first on the board after Megan Keller found the back of the net on a power play. Keller received the puck from Alex Carpenter and passed it to Laila Edwards, who immediately passed it back to an open Keller. Keller then shot a laser to give the Americans a 1-0 lead in the quarterfinal. USA 1, Italy 0
USA goalie Gwyneth Philips is called for delay of game for playing the puck in the restricted area. Italy power play ends when Laura Lobis is called for boarding. It will be 4-on-4.
USA is dominating jn shots, but American goalie Gwyneth Philips comes up big on a breakaway by Justine Reyes.
Nadia Mattivi is called for an illegal hit. USA gets three shots. Italy kills penalty.
USA’s Gwyneth Philips vs. Italy’s Gabriella Durante in net.
Puck drop between the U.S. women’s hockey team and Switzerland is set for 3:10 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 13 from Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena in Milan.
USA Network will broadcast Friday’s U.S. women’s hockey quarterfinal matchup against Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Streaming options for the game include NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Olympic App (with a TV login).
You can also stream the game on Peacock, NBC’s subscription streaming service.
Here is the full U.S. women’s hockey roster for the Milano Cortina Olympics:
Aerin Frankel has started three games for Team USA, but head coach John Wroblewski is turning to his backup. Gwyneth Philips is starting in the net for Team USA. Philips combined with McNaughton for a 5-0 shutout of Switzerland on Monday.
The USA will stick with the same top two lines as in the Canada game. Hannah Bilka was moved to the second line for that game and scored two goals.
Hilary Knight enters the game tied for the U.S. Olympic record for career goals and points. Her 14 goals are tied with Natalie Darwitz and Katie King. Her 32 points are tied with Jenny Potter.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
Our team of savvy editors independently handpicks all recommendations. If you purchase through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices were accurate at the time of publication but may change.
Information in this article was imported automatically into a template written and reviewed by a USA TODAY Sports editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Hockey News