MILAN — Captain Hilary Knight stood on the ice as her USA women’s hockey teammates filed off, one by one, following another resounding performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The five-time Olympian, chasing her second Olympic gold medal, fist bumped each of her teammates, the last to go through the gap in the boards and head to the locker room.
There was Cayla Barnes, who scored about 5 minutes into the American’s 5-0 semifinal win over Sweden, her first goal of the tournament. There was Taylor Heise, Abbey Murphy, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hayley Scamurra, who all scored in the second period, the latter three of whom scored within less than 3 minutes of each other.
Laila Edwards, the first Black woman to score at the Olympics for Team USA, was the second to last player off the ice. She tallied an assist in the win, and when she stepped off the ice, Knight gave her a tap on the back with her stick, the seasoned veteran and the player who grew up idolizing her headlining a deep, dangerous and richly talented squad at these Games.
“I think this is one of the best groups I’ve ever been part of,” Edwards said. “I think our depth and being from top, down being that everyone plays a really good 200-foot game and we just play well together.”
The players, who have combined to score 31 goals so far this tournament, lingered briefly before heading into the tunnel, waving to fans and taking in the moment. They had gotten past their second-to-last hurdle, standing between them and that coveted Olympic gold, which the U.S. women have won twice (1998, 2018) and played for six times previously.
“It’s hard to kind of zoom out while you’re here and look at the big picture because you’re so focused on the day to day,” goaltender Aerin Frankel said. “But I think we look back at this tournament, what we’ve done so far has been amazing.”
The Americans outshot the Swedes 34-23, and Frankel was impenetrable, keeping Sweden off the board with spectacular save after save to preserve a fifth consecutive shutout. Meanwhile, as Knight remains one goal and one point away from setting the new U.S. Olympic all-time record in both categories, the vaunted leader is more than fine with her teammates getting the shine, quickly deflecting all praise to her teammates at every turn.
“Anytime I put on this jersey, I feel just so lucky to be a part of this group because there’s so much talent in our locker room and it’s just so much fun to play with the best players in the world,” Frankel said.
The Americans will play Canada in the gold medal match on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. ET.
Hayley Scamurra netted a goal at 37:59 to continue the Americans’ dominance in this semifinal matchup — and in this Olympic tournament. The goal gave USA a 5-0 lead.
Sweden swapped out goalkeeper Ebba Svensson Träff for Emma Soderberg at the 36:10 mark immediately after Träff conceded the four goal of the match, including two in less than a minute. Soderberg gave up a goal less than two minutes later to Hayley Scamurra.
Not 6 minutes after Taylor Heise put the Americans up 2-0, Abbey Murphy and Kendall Coyne Schofield scored within a minute of each other to extend the lead to 4-0. Hannah Bilka and Haley Winn were credited with the assist on Murphy’s goal; Megan Keller and Laila Edwards were credited with the assist on Coyne Schofield’s goal.
Forward Taylor Heise extended USA’s lead over Sweden to 2-0 at the 29:09 mark. Hannah Bilka made a break toward the goal and connected with Heise, who tapped the puck in for her second score of the tournament. Abbey Murphy was also credited with an assist.
Read about her journey from being cut ahead of the 2022 Beijing Games to roaring back and becoming indespensible for this squad.
U.S. women’s hockey rising star Laila Edwards isn’t the only Cleveland Heights native in the building. Fellow Ohioan Jason Kelce and his wife Kylie Kelce were in attendance at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Monday for Team USA’s semifinal matchup against Sweden.
Kelce was decked out in red, white and blue in a Team USA Kendall Coyne Schofield jersey.
Edwards revealed last month that Kelce and his brother, Travis Kelce, both donated to her GoFundMe campaign to bring her family and friends to Milan to cheer her on in person. Edwards became the first Black woman to score a goal for the U.S. Olympic hockey team.
Edwards, 22, assisted Schofield’s goal at the 36:10 mark.
Kirsten Simms was called for an interference penalty, handing Sweden its second power play of the contest. The Americans were able to kill off the first power play and easily kept the Swedes away from their goal during the second.
Here is the full U.S. women’s hockey roster for the Milano Cortina Olympics:
John Wroblewski has led the squad since August 2022. Under his leadership, the Americans have two golds and two silvers at IIHR Women’s World Championships.
USA forward Hayley Scamurra is heading to the penalty box after being called for tripping. The penalty gave Sweden a one-player advantage and their first power play of the night.
The U.S. women have a 1-0 lead over Sweden after the first period. Cayla Barnes opened scoring at the 5:09 mark for the Americans, who recorded 13 shots on goal in the frame. Sweden registered only two shots on goal in the first period, including a breakaway shot that goalie Aerin Frankel caught to keep the Swedes off the board. Frankel has only one conceded one goal through three games, in addition to two shutouts.
The Americans got the first power play of the match after Sara Hjalmarsson was called for a boarding penalty at the 8:21 mark. However, Sweden was able to kill off the power play and is back at full strength.
The Americans are on the board just like that. Cayla Barnes hit a laser to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead over Sweden about 5 minutes into the first period. It was Barnes’ first goal of these Games and USA’s 27th of the tournament.
Kelly Pannek and Lee Stecklein were credited with the assist. The U.S. women are already up to 9-1 in shots on goal. The Swedes didn’t notch their first until more than halfway through the opening frame.
Caroline Harvey has nine points so far these Games — two goals, seven assists — the most by a U.S. defender in an Olympics tournament.
The U.S. hockey captain and five-time Olympian is sitting on the doorstep of breaking two records. Most points by an American at the Olympics and most goals by an American at the Olympics. She is tied with Jenny Potter for most points (32), and in a three-way tie with Natalie Darwitz and Katie King for most goals (14).
And we’re off here at this Olympics semifinal game. About 20 seconds into the first period, chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” broke out from the crowd.
Puck drop between the U.S. women’s hockey team and Switzerland is set for 10:40 a.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 16 from the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
USA Network will broadcast Monday’s U.S. women’s hockey semifinal matchup against Sweden 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.
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