Team USA took home gold Sunday night at the Women’s World Championship, one of the most important tournaments in women’s hockey. They beat Team Canada 6-3.
Hilary Knight, who grew up in Sun Valley, Idaho, made all the difference for Team USA with three goals and 21:21 of playing time.
“It’s hard to beat Canada,” Knight said to the Associated Press. “It’s hard to beat Canada in Canada, right? So we definitely felt like an underdog.”
This tournament was Knight’s first time wearing the captain’s “C” on her chest, but people are already starting to call her “Captain Clutch.” The nickname has belonged to Knight’s Canadian arch-rival Marie-Philip Poulin for many years.
Knight now has three “golden goals” — game-winning goals in gold medal games — for team USA at international tournaments. Poulin has done so in three Olympic gold medal games.
This was Knight’s ninth gold medal at the World Championship. She also has four silver medals at the event, in addition to a gold and three silvers at the Olympics.
Since 2022, Knight has held the record for most points at the Women’s World Championship when she passed Canada’s Hayley Wickenheiser with 87 points. She now has 101 points in total.
This year’s tournament took place in Brampton, Ontario. The gold medal game saw more than 5,000 people in attendance.
