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U.S. women's hockey team wins gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics
Bruce Bennett/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Team USA won gold in the women's hockey final at the 2026 Winter Olympics
- The thriller of a game required overtime, after U.S. captain Hilary Knight scored with just 2 minutes to go to tie the game
- Megan Keller snuck the puck past Canada's goalie to win the game
Team USA is golden again.
The U.S. women's hockey team beat their heated rivals Canada to secure their third Olympic gold in overtime with a score of 2-1 on Thursday, Feb. 19, after nearly 60 minutes in which it looked like Canada would take the win.
At Milan's Santagiulia Arena, it was a tightly-fought game in the first period, with Canada getting the better chances. But it wasn't until the start of the second — with the U.S. on a power play — that Canada broke away for the first goal of the night. The U.S. searched for goals the rest of the second period and into the third, but Canada's defense kept them from getting nearly any solid chances.
The U.S. looked doomed for silver, until just 2 minutes and 3 seconds to go in the game when team captain Hilary Knight scored to make it 1-1. Knight, playing in her fifth and final Olympics, became the top goal scorer in U.S. Olympic history with her tally.
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Hilary Knight scores to tie the gold medal match
Gregory Shamus/Getty
The game then went into overtime — now 20 minutes of 3-on-3 play until a goal is scored, per the new rules this Olympics — with the U.S.'s Megan Keller getting a goal past Canada goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens to win the game, and the gold.
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Megan Keller celebrates after scoring the golden goal at the 2026 Winter Olympics
Bruce Bennett/Getty
With the win, Knight won her second Olympic gold, and fifth Olympic medal in her fifth and final Games. The 36-year-old previously told PEOPLE she first dreamt of playing at the Olympics when she was 7, two years before a women's tournament was even added to the the Games.
Knight — who also got engaged during the Milan Games after proposing to her fellow Olympian girlfriend Brittany Bowe — told PEOPLE that she was thrilled to have her family back at the Olympics to support her, after they had to miss the 2022 Beijing Games due to COVID restrictions.
“Talking to your parents through a TV screen after a game is very different than having that hug after a game that you're so used to,” the hockey star said. “I’m really looking forward to the family aspect, the support [of them] being there.”
While Knight represents the U.S.'s legacy, having played in the gold medal match in every Olympics in which she's competed, the team's scoring was led by the new generation, with 23-year-old Caroline Harvey as the tournament leader, and 22-year-old Laila Edwards as the breakout star.
Edwards, a defensive player making her Olympic debut midway through her college career, had two goals and six assists in the tournament — including an assist on Knight's tying goal. She also made history as the first Black woman to make the U.S. hockey team.
Speaking about the milestone to PEOPLE, Edwards, now an Olympic champion, said, "It means everything. I think representation is so important, and role models are important too. So to be that potential role model for someone, it means the world to me," she says. "It's one of the biggest things that motivates me."
The U.S. dominated all Olympics long, shutting out five straight opponents — including Canada, marking the first time the team has ever been shut out in an Olympics matchup, on Feb. 10 — to make it to the gold medal match. They ended the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record, and allowed just two goals against.
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.
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