McGill Martlet Hockey

Canada 3 - United States 1

NYKÖPING, Sweden - Hayley Wickenheiser scored the game-winning goal for Canada in a 3-1 victory over the United States on Thursday at the 2011 4 Nations Cup women's hockey tournament.  The matchup was a historic one, marking the 100th time since 1990 that the two women’s hockey rivals have faced off against each other.

Wickenheiser (Shaunavon, Sask.) beat American goalie Jesse Vetter midway through the third period, taking a low wrist shot from the slot, to help Canada record its second straight win at Stora Hallen arena. Caroline Ouellette (Montreal, Que.) sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the dying seconds.

Head coach Dan Church said his team was rewarded for playing with a heightened intensity.

“I think that was the difference in the game,” Church said. “It was just our commitment to winning those physical confrontations.”

After a scoreless 20 minutes, Jayna Hefford (Kingston, Ont.) got Canada on the board early in the second period. Jocelyne Lamoureux scored a short-handed goal for the Americans to tie it up at 1-1.

Canada opened the tournament with a 5-0 victory over Finland on Wednesday, and wraps up preliminary round play against host Sweden on Saturday.

“It's great to win Round 1 against the U.S.,” Church said. “I fully expect that we'll be playing them in the final on Sunday.”

Canadian goaltender Charline Labonte (Boisbriand, Que.) made 34 saves for the win.

“We got off to a good start and we didn't really give them too much,” Wickenheiser said. “I think it was a nice first game (against the U.S.) for us, with a pretty young group of defencemen and a young team overall.”

Vetter made 24 saves in the meeting between the top two women’s teams in the world. Canada has a 61-38-1 edge.

“It was a disappointing loss, but our kids played hard,” said U.S. head coach Katey Stone. “We learned a lot tonight and we'll be ready to go on Saturday (against Finland).”

Canada has won 12 gold and three silver medals in 4 Nations Cup and 3 Nations Cup events since the first tournament was played in 1996.