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United States blanks Finland 5-0 to reach women’s hockey worlds final

The United States shut out Finland 5-0 to advance to the final of the women’s ice hockey worlds
Finland's goaltender Sanni Ahola, second left, reacts after she fails to stop a shot by the United States' Hilary Knight (21) for the team's fifth goal during the semifinal match between the United States and Finland at the Women's Ice Hockey World Championship in Herning, Denmark, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Finland's goaltender Sanni Ahola, second left, reacts after she fails to stop a shot by the United States' Hilary Knight (21) for the team's fifth goal during the semifinal match between the United States and Finland at the Women's Ice Hockey World Championship in Herning, Denmark, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
By Associated Press

HERNING, Denmark (AP) — The United States shut out Finland 5-0 on Sunday to advance to the final of the women’s ice hockey worlds.

The defending champion will face the winner of the other semifinal between Canada and Sweden in Monday’s gold medal game.

Captain Hilary Knight had a goal and added an assist with Kelly Pannek, Alex Carpenter, Caroline Harvey and Lacey Eden also scoring.

Aerin Rankel stopped 17 shots for her eighth career worlds shutout and 19th victory.

The Americans jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening period after Pannek netted the opener from the low slot 6:36 in and Knight fed Carpenter with a backhand pass from behind the net to double the advantage with 3:26 remaining.

Harvey, Eden and Knight extended the lead to 5-0 in the span of 1:35 in the second period.

Tournament leading scorer Harvey moved on to 15 points from six games. Knight extended her record point tally to 130 with 74 goals and 56 assists in 93 games at the worlds.

Finland pulled goalie Sanni Ahola, who made 20 saves, after the second period, with Emilia Kyrkko taking over and finishing with nine saves.

Finland will next play in the bronze-medal game after finishing third last year.