U.S. Women’s U18 squad captures silver in Finland

By Michael Caples –

After a highly successful tournament run, Team USA came up just short in the gold-medal game of the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation U18 Women’s World Championship against Canada.

The U.S. lost to their main rivals by a score of 2-1 in the Jan. 5 championship contest, with Canada scoring 58 seconds into overtime to break a 1-1 tie.

Team USA returned home with silver, but the final result is not indicative to their overall tournament performance. The women’s team did not allow a single goal during the preliminary and semifinals rounds, out-scoring their opposition by a total of 25-0.

The lone Michigan representative on the Team USA roster was Alexis Shaw, a goaltender from Troy, who recorded two shutouts during the tournament. Shaw did not play in the championship game against Canada.

Katherine Schipper, a native of Brooklyn Park, Minn., was named the tournament’s best forward by the directorate, and she also took home MVP and best forward awards from the media. Schipper, Jincy Dunne (O’Fallon, Mo.) and Danielle Cameranesi (Plymouth, Minn.) were named Team USA’s three top performers at the tournament.

Team USA concluded the tournament with a 4-0-1-0 record.  In six years of the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship, Team USA has won three gold medals (2008, 2009, and 2011) and three silver medals (2010, 2012, and 2013).