Canada wins record-breaking semifinal, U.S. beats Finland in women's ice hockey

BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Ice hockey powerhouse Canada overwhelmed Switzerland 10-3 in the women's ice hockey semifinal of Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games on Monday, breaking their own Olympic scoring record.

The United States fended off Finland 4-1 to book the other final berth.

Canada used a little more than 10 minutes to get a 5-0 lead. Erin Ambrose scored the team's fifth goal in the match and 49th goal in the tournament, which means Canada broke the 48-goal record for women's ice hockey in a single Winter Olympics. The previous record was set by Canada at Vancouver 2010.

It was heading for a thrashing until Switzerland pulled one back thanks to the goal from captain Lara Stalder in the 19th minute of the first period.

The second period started with another goal for the Swiss. Alina Muller shot the puck into the net during a fast break to close the gap at 5-2.

Both teams fought hard on both sides, and the second period ended with Canada leading 8-3.

The final period finished with another two goals from Canada, and the four-time Olympic champion got the easy victory by a seven-goal margin.

"I think a lot of the credit is for our coach, Troy [Ryan]," said Canadian forward Brianne Jenner about the 54 goals so far on the tournament. "I think he's given us some great systems that allow us to be creative."

Canada managed to get into the finals of all the seven Winter Games since 1998 when women's ice hockey was included in the Olympic program for the first time.

"It's not easy to get to this point," said Jenner. "It's been building and building and building for years."

Canada has won four Olympic golds and two silvers, and they will seek to avenge the final defeat to the United States four years ago in PyeongChang.

The other semifinal turned out to be a much tougher one. The U.S. out-shot Finland 12-6 in the first period, but couldn't open the scoring.

The second period saw a more aggressive U.S. team. The defending champion led 2-0 thanks to goals from Cayla Barnes and Hilary Knight.

Finland struggled hard to fight back, but the U.S. played solid defense to wrap up the victory 4-1.

The women's ice hockey final will take place on Thursday.

Canada has a 3-2 head-to-head record against the U.S. in their five encounters in the Olympic final of the previous six Games. Four years ago, the U.S. beat Canada 3-2 through shoot-off to win the gold medal.