Team USA opened the 2026 Olympics women’s hockey tournament with a resounding 5-1 win. Watch highlights from the game.
WASHINGTON β The U.S. women’s hockey team opened their 2026 Winter Olympics with a decisive win over Czechia on Thursday, marking their eighth-straight victory in an Olympics opening game.
Team USA won 5-1 at the nearly packed 5,000-plus seat Rho Ice Hockey Arena, with two goals from Hayley Scamurra and one each from Alex Carpenter, captain Hilary Knight and Joy Dunne. Goaltender Aerin Frankel made her Olympic debut in the net and stopped 13 shots.
Laila Edwards had an assist in the first period and became the first Black female to represent America in hockey at the Olympics.
Barbora Jurickova scored Czechiaβs lone goal. She was set up on a breakaway as she exited the penalty box to cut the Americans lead to 3-1 midway through the second period. Klara Peslarova finished with 37 saves in an outing Czechia was out-shot 31-9 through two periods.
βI just do my best to bring that energy in every shift that I have. It feels a little extra special to be able to help on the scoreboard and physically, too,β Scamurra said.
The Americans were greeted a loud cheer and a βU-S-A!β chant began at puck drop.
Next up for the U.S. is facing Finland on Saturday, and the uncertainty of how many Finns will be healthy enough to play.Β
The scheduled Group A game between defending Olympic champion Canada and Finland was postponed to Feb. 12. The Finnsβ roster was down to eight skaters and two goalies, with the remaining 13 players dealing with a stomach virus that hit the team Tuesday.
Below are video highlights from the game.
Hayley Scamurra scores 2 goals in U.S. win over Czechia:
Hilary Knight powers to net to extend the U.S. lead:
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