U.S. Women’s National Team falls to Finland 3-2 in 2009 Hockey Canada Cup Opener

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Despite holding a 51-23 advantage in shots, the U.S. Women's National Team fell to Finland, 3-2, here tonight in the opening game of the 2009 Hockey Canada Cup at GM Place. Gigi Marvin (Warroad, Minn.) and Meghan Duggan (Danvers, Mass.) scored for Team USA in the first period, before Finland came back with three unanswered goals in the final two frames to earn its second-ever victory over the U.S.

"We ran into a goaltender that played exceptionally well, while not capitalizing on the opportunities we had," said Team USA Head Coach Mark Johnson. "It wasn't the way we wanted to start the tournament but all we can do is bounce back and play well against Sweden tomorrow. We'll take the lessons we learned and move forward from here."

Marvin put the U.S. up, 1-0, at the 6:09 mark of the first period using a wrist shot to beat Finnish netminder Noora Raty. Caitlin Cahow (Branford, Conn.) and Rachael Drazan (Orono, Minn.) earned assists on the play. Team USA doubled its advantage just :10 into its first power-play opportunity, as Duggan deflected a Julie Chu (Fairfield, Conn.) shot from the top of the slot at 14:20.

In the second stanza, Nina Tikkinen sent a quick pass from the corner to Saara Tuominen in front of the net, who snuck the puck past U.S. goaltender Jessie Vetter (Cottage Grove, Wis.) during a power play at 5:50 to close the gap, 2-1. Just under four minutes later, Finland knotted the score when Karvinen went one-on-one down the ice with Angela Ruggiero (Simi Valley, Calif.). Although Ruggiero stopped Karvinen from getting a shot, the puck was pushed out and bounced into the net off Vetter's pads at 9:46.

Finland used an early power-play opportunity in the last period to gain a 3-2 advantage. Emma Laaksonen carried the puck up the left boards, cut toward the U.S. net and put a backhanded shot above Vetter's blocker at 2:10. The Finns held on for the remainder of the period for the tournament-opening win, with Raty making a total of 14 saves in the frame.

The U.S. returns to action tomorrow (Sept. 1) against Sweden at 3 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET).

NOTES: The U.S. loss to Finland is just the second in the teams' all-time head-to-head competition. The first came in the playoff round of the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championship when Finland posted a 1-0 overtime win on a 5-on-3 power-play goal ... Team USA was 1-for-4 on the power play, while Finland was 2-for-4 ... Coverage of the 2009 Hockey Canada Cup can be found on QwestTour.com, USAHockey.com, as well as on the U.S. Women's National Team's Facebook page and the Qwest Tour's Twitter page. All preliminary and semifinal games can be viewed live at FASTHockey.com. The U.S. roster can be downloaded here, while the media guide can be found here ... Mark Johnson, head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin, is leading Team USA through the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C. Dave Flint, head women's ice hockey coach at Northeastern University, and Jodi McKenna, head women's ice hockey coach at Wesleyan University, are serving as assistant coaches ... The 2009-10 U.S. Women's National Team will be centralized in Blaine, Minn., starting on Sept. 14 and will take part in the Qwest Tour, a 10-game, nine-city domestic tour that begins on Sept. 25 in St. Paul, Minn., and concludes just prior to the 2010 Olympics.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period
USA 2-0-0--2
FIN 0-2-1--3

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Marvin (Cahow, Drazan), 6:09; 2, USA, Duggan (Chu, Darwitz), 14:20 (pp). Penalties: USA, Weiland (hooking), 2:50; FIN, Pelttari (tripping), 14:10.

Second Period - Scoring: 3, FIN, Tuominen (Tikkinen, Karvinen), 5:50 (pp); 4, FIN, Karvinen (unassisted), 9:46. Penalties: USA, Drazan (interference), 5:36; FIN, Laaksonen (hooking), 13:52.

Third Period - Scoring: 5, FIN, Laaksonen (Tuominen, Pelttari), 2:10 (pp). Penalties: USA, Ruggiero (interference), :36; FIN, Sirvio (tripping), 4:49, FIN, Laaksonen (interference), 11:00; USA, J.Lamoureux (hooking), 13:30.

Shots By Period
USA 17-20-14--51
FIN 11-9-3--23

Goaltenders
USA, Vetter, 60:00 11-11--9-7--3-2---23-20
FIN, Raty, 60:00 17-15--20-20--14-14---51-49

Power Play: USA 1-4; FIN 2-4
Penalties: USA 4-8; FIN 4-8
Officials: Referee-Mary Anne Gage (CAN); Linesmen-Denise Caughey (CAN), Helene Roy (CAN)
Attendance: 1,015

Next Game: Tues, Sept. 1 vs. Sweden at 3 p.m. PT