Team USA, the world and Olympic champion, and the Netherlands, the European gold medal winner, will face off in the final game at the 2019 Holiday Cup in Princeton.
On the last day of the group play, the USA blew away Italy 11:2 to retain the top spot, ahead of the Netherlands.
In the second match, Russia defeated Canada 9:7 and climbed into the 4th position of the table. Italy and Russia will play in the third-place game.
2019 Holiday Cup, Day 5
USA – Italy 11:2 (2:1, 3:0, 4:1, 2:0)
USA: Steffens 3, Musselman 2, Fattal 2, J. Neushul 2, K. Neushul 1, Haralabidis 1.
Italy: Queirolo 1, Marletta 1.
Team USA took an early 2:0 lead, but quickly after that, Italy scored its first goal (2:1). The Americans built a 5:1 advantage by the middle break. The Italians hit the back of the net once more in the18th minute (2:8). In the remaining 14th minutes, Team USA held the Europeans scoreless. Team USA’s goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson was among the best players of the match. Johnson, the winner of the Total Player Award 2019, posted 16 saves.
Russia – Canada 9:7 (1:1, 4:3, 3:1,1:2)
Russia: Prokofyeva 3, Bersneva 3, Timofeeva 1, Ivanova 1, Gerzanich 1.
Canada: Sohl 3, Bekhazi 2, Eggens 1, Wright 1.
After three defeats, Russia finally recorded a win. This encounter was a pretty balanced battle. Russia was leading throughout the match. Canada leveled the score at 1:1 and 3:3. The Russians entered the second half with a minimal 5:4 advantage, while they built a 3-goal gap deep into the third period (7:4), which proved to be an unbeatable lead.
1 USA 4 games – 4 wins (11 pts)
2 Netherlands 4 – 2 (7)
3 Italy 4 – 2 (5)
4 Russia 4 – 1 (4)
5 Canada 4 – 1 (3)
