Knight, Lamoureux each score 2 as US women beat Minnesota 8-5

US women beat Minnesota 8-5 in hockey exhibition

MINNEAPOLIS — Hilary Knight and Monique Lamoureux each scored a pair of goals to overcome Kelli Blankenship’s hat trick, and the U.S. women’s hockey team beat Minnesota 8-5 on Tuesday night in its final game against college competition before the Vancouver Olympics.

Knight, who leads the team with 13 goals in 22 games, scored midway through the third period to break a 4-all tie. Natalie Darwitz and Kelli Stack followed quickly with goals as the Americans improved to 6-0 against collegians.

“It’s the Gophers, and they’re always a tough team,” said U.S. forward Gigi Marvin, who played four years at Minnesota. “They skate fast and always have good forwards, so they put a lot of goals in. It’s a simple game of hockey, and we definitely didn’t make it simple.”

Minnesota goaltender Noora Raty, who will start for Finland in Vancouver, played half the game and stopped 29 of 33 shots. Jenny Lura came in and finished with 17 saves.

“It’s always like that against USA, but I like it if I have to save that many shots,” said Raty, who backstopped Finland’s 3-2 win over the Americans in Vancouver last August 31. “We have a different playing style with team Finland, and have to play defense more because this team can score.”

Brianne McLaughlin, making her first start in goal for the Americans, had 16 saves.

The U.S. is 0-6 against Canada since October, but had little trouble with college competition in its pre-Olympic tour. Against St. Cloud State, North Dakota and Wisconsin, the Americans won by a combined score of 33-1.

Looking to continue that trend, Team USA went right to work in the first period, outshooting Minnesota 23-8 and opening a 3-1 lead. The Gophers needed more than five minutes to record their first shot on goal, but sent a charge through the crowd when Alexandra Zebro scored on a power play for Minnesota’s first goal.

“It was nice to see them get rewarded for some of their efforts, and to see that confidence grow as we went along,” Minnesota coach Brad Frost said. “The closer it got, the more momentum and energy our team gained.”

Trailing 4-2 in the waning minutes of the second period, Blankenship scored twice to tie the game. Her second goal came with just 1.9 seconds left in the period, after a cross-crease pass from Chelsey Jones.

“We turned the puck over in certain areas, with defensemen blocking shots and not getting it through, which created energy for them, and all of a sudden it becomes a hockey game,” Team USA coach Mark Johnson said. “We rolled up our sleeves a little bit in the third period and worked and finally got the puck by.”

Team USA got three goals in quick succession in the final period to put the game out of reach. Blankenship completed the hat trick with 1:03 to play, making it 7-5, but Jocelyne Lamoureux tacked on an empty-netter.

The Americans will play two more tuneup games, against Finland in Colorado Springs, Colo., in early February, before heading to Vancouver on Feb. 7.