VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Haley Irwin scored two goals, Meghan Agosta set an Olympic record with her ninth goal, and Canada beat Finland in the semifinals 5-0 Monday night to secure its long-anticipated gold-medal meeting with the U.S. team.
Cherie Piper and Caroline Ouellette also scored for the Canadians, who persevered through their closest game in a tournament they have dominated. Canada has outscored its opponents 46-2 in Vancouver.
Shannon Szabados made just 11 saves for Canada, but Finnish goalie Noora Raty bedeviled the Canadian offense with 45 stops. She kept the deficit to two goals until late in the second period when Agosta broke Danielle Goyette’s Olympic goal-scoring mark.
The Americans advanced to Thursday’s final with a 9-1 victory over Sweden.