(Utica) Aerin Frankel stopped 15 shots en route to its fourth shutout in five games as the defending champion United States beat Finland 5-0 Saturday in the semifinals of the Women’s World Hockey Championship .
Laila Edwards scored three straight goals for the Americans, who will be making their 23rde gold medal match at this tournament.
Hannah Bilka and Savannah Harmon scored the other goals for the United States, which has appeared in every final since the championship’s inception in 1990.
After Bilka’s net, at 12:01 of play, Edwards scored his three goals in a span of 13:10.
Edwards scored his first goal of the game with 6:46 remaining in the second period, on the power play. She then flashed the red light twice in less than four minutes in the third period.
Furthermore, it was Frankel’s fifth shutout in 11 games at the Women’s World Hockey Championship.
Frankel has conceded just three goals in five games so far, all three in his team’s 5-3 win over Finland in the group stage.
The Americans will play against the winners of the other semi-final played on Saturday, between Canada and the Czech Republic.
In the group stage on Monday, the United States beat Canada 1-0 in overtime. These two countries have faced each other in 21 of the 22 tournament finals.
Earlier in the day, Alina Muller scored 4:07 into overtime to give Switzerland a 3-2 victory over Germany in the placement match.
Thus, Switzerland retains its place in the top five nations of Group A for next year, while Germany will be in Group B.