POULIN’S HAT TRICK LEADS CANADA TO U22 SWEEP OF U.S.

TORONTO, Ont. – Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que.) had a hat trick, scoring once in each period, to lead Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team to a 7-2 win over the United States and a sweep of the three-game series on Saturday night at the MasterCard Centre.

It is the second sweep of the Americans in three tries for Canada, who has not lost in regulation to the U.S. since the 2004 series in Lake Placid, N.Y. and Burlington, Vt.

A pair of power play goals helped Canada start strong, with Laura Fortino (Hamilton, Ont.) opening the scoring 7:19 in, with assists going to Jillian Saulnier (Halifax, N.S.) and Lauriane Rougeau (Beaconsfield, Que.), and Poulin’s first making it 2-0 on another man advantage six minutes later, this time with Brigette Lacquette (Waterhen, Man.) taking care of set-up duties.

Canada’s, and Poulin’s, momentum continued into the second, with the 2010 Olympic gold medallist jumping on the rebound of a Chelsea Karpenko (Winnipeg, Man.) shot and beating American goaltender Alyssa Grogan to make it 3-0 just 58 seconds into the middle frame.

The Americans did manage to cut into the Canadian lead before the end of the second period, with Amanda Kessel and Kendall Coyne both solving Geneviève Lacasse (Scarborough, Ont.) before the horn sounded to make it 3-2, but that would be as close as the U.S. would get.

The third period was all Canada, as the hosts pulled away with four unanswered goals. Rebecca Johnston (Sudbury, Ont.) needed just eight seconds to make it 4-2, with Poulin picking up her third point of the night, and Jennifer Wakefield (Pickering, Ont.) set up Saulnier for the 5-2 goal at 8:27.

The penalty kill was responsible for Canada’s sixth goal, with Vicki Bendus (Wasaga Beach, Ont.) redirecting a Jenelle Kohanchuk (Winnipeg, Man.) shot to make it 6-2 shorthanded , and Poulin capped off a four-point night with her hat trick goal, rifling a shot past Grogan at 13:17.

With the series done, Canada’s players will return to their club teams to kick off the 2010-11 season. The Canadian coaching and scouting staffs will evaluate players during the season before determining who will represent Canada as it defends its gold medal at the 2011 MLP Cup next January in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland.

Goals/Buts : 
07:19 CAN Laura Fortino (Jillian Saulnier, Lauriane Rougeau) PP/AN
13:13 CAN Marie-Philip Poulin (Brigette Lacquette) PP/AN

Penalties/Pénalités : 
07:08 USA Amber Yung (Holding/Retenir)
09:28 CAN Marie-Philip Poulin (High-sticking/Bâton éléve)
11:45 USA Megan Bozek (Hooking/Accrocher)
14:06 USA Brooke Ammerman (High-sticking/Bâton éléve)
16:23 CAN Catherine White (Cross-checking/Double-échec)
18:46 USA Jocelyne Lamoureux (Hooking/Accrocher)

Goals/Buts : 
00:58 CAN Marie-Philip Poulin (Chelsea Karpenko)
12:16 USA Amanda Kessel (Montana Vichorek)
15:33 USA Kendall Coyne

Penalties/Pénalités : 
01:19 CAN Courtney Birchard (Cross-checking/Double-échec)
06:20 CAN Catherine White (High-sticking/ Bâton éléve)
07:07 USA Monique Lamoureux (Holding/Retenir)
09:32 USA Josephine Pucci (Interference/Obstruction)
16:59 CAN Vicki Bendus (Hooking/Accrocher)

Goals/Buts : 
00:08 CAN Rebecca Johnston (Marie-Philip Poulin)
08:27 CAN Jillian Saulnier (Jennifer Wakefield, Stefanie McKeough)
11:44 CAN Vicki Bendus (Jenelle Kohanchuk) SH/DN
13:17 CAN Marie-Philip Poulin (Stefanie McKeough)

Penalties/Pénalités : 
02:17 USA Monique Lamoureux (Holding/Retenir)
02:35 CAN Jessica Wong (Interference/Obstruction)
06:18 USA Emily West (Delay of Game/Retarder le match)
09:45 CAN Lauriane Rougeau (Holding/Retenir)