ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE, Czechia — Team USA and Team Canada will play in the gold-medal game of the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship on Sunday.
The rivals have faced off for gold at 23 of 24 women’s world championships since the tournament began in 1990, including last year’s gold-medal game, which Canada won 6-5 in overtime. This year’s championship rematch was set after both teams won their semifinal games on Saturday night.
Team USA narrowly escaped elimination in the first semifinal of the day with a 2-1 win against Czechia. It was a physical, intense game — the best of the tournament thus far — with a stellar performance from Czech goalie Klára Peslarová, who made 43 saves in the loss.
The host Czechia scored a stunning opening goal against the top-seeded Americans, who went 4-0 through the group stage. With less than five minutes remaining in the first period, U.S. defender Savannah Harmon turned the puck over deep in the U.S. zone with goalie Aerin Frankel out of her crease. Czech forward Tereza Plosová — a top commit to the University of Minnesota — waited for a diving Lacey Eden to go by, and chipped the puck over Frankel for the opening goal of the game.
Terka Plosová nekompromisně! V semifinále vedeme! 🚀
🇺🇸⚔️🇨🇿 0:1
