2014-15 National Women's Development Team

FOUR-GOAL FIRST COSTS DEVELOPMENT TEAM IN LOSS TO U.S.

JASON LA ROSE

CALGARY, Alta. – The offensive drought continued Friday afternoon for Canada’s National Women’s Development Team, which couldn’t find the back of the net and was blanked 6-0 by the United States in the middle contest of a three-game series.

Canada has dropped the first two games of the series, and Friday’s loss was its worst ever in an under-22/development game between the North American rivals.

The Americans took control early, scoring four times on 13 shots on Canadian goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens (La Malbaie, Que./University of Wisconsin, WCHA) in the opening 20 minutes.

Desbiens was replaced to start the second period by Emerance Maschmeyer (Bruderheim, Alta./Harvard University, ECAC), who stopped nine of 11 the rest of the way.

The U.S. held a 13-2 advantage in shots on goal in the first period, and struck just 4:04 in off the stick of Dani Cameranesi, who corralled a bouncing puck to the left of Desbiens and opened the scoring.

Lexi Bender made it 2-0 at 12:09, her shot deflecting off a skate in front and in, Miye D’Oench pushed the lead to three at 17:07, and Haley Skarupa ripped a one-timer past Desbiens on the power play in the final minute of the period to cap the scoring burst for the Americans.

Cameranesi’s second of the game made it 5-0 early in the second period, and Paige Savage converted a breakaway 13 minutes into the third to provide the final margin of victory.

The Canadians got into penalty trouble in the first two periods, giving the Americans eight power plays before the game had reached the six-minute mark of the second period.

The U.S. finished 1-for-9 with the man advantage, while Canada was scoreless on five opportunities.

The teams are back on the ice Sunday for the series finale, with puck drop scheduled for noon ET/9 a.m. PT.