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18 // JUNE/JULY 2019 D I G I T A L E X C L U S I V E USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM PHOTOS BY Images On Ice M inutes hung like hours inside the elec- trified atmosphere of Espoo's Metro Arena as 6,053 exuberant Finnish fans and a television audience watching back home on the NHL Network waited for officials to render their verdict. At stake was a historic victory for the upstart Finnish squad or an opportunity for the U.S. Women's National Team to win another international title. After 12 minutes of deliberation, the on-ice officials and video review crew deemed that the goal scored by Finnish forward Petra Nieminen did not count due to goaltender interference, and play resumed in overtime. When the remaining time failed to yield a decisive goal, the teams went to a shootout, where Amanda Kessel and Annie Pankowski scored to lift the U.S. squad to its fifth con- secutive world championship gold and the eighth in the last nine tournaments. "I'm extremely proud of our team tonight for playing their game while emotions were running high, in a loud building and against a team that played us incredibly hard," said U.S. head coach Bob Corkum. The Finns were backstopped by the 50-save performance of veteran goaltender Noora Raty, who surrendered only a second-period goal to Pankowski. In the opposing crease, Alex Rigsby was equally strong. With her 26-save performance, Rigsby became the winningest goaltender for a single Women's Worlds in the tournament's history with five wins. For Finland, who had won World Championship bronze a dozen times, the silver marks the country's first second-place finish. The Finns knocked off Canada in a stunning semifinal victory. For several agonizing moments it looked as if t h e y h a d t a k e n d o w n t h e A m e r i c a n s w h e n Jenni Hiirikoski made a brilliant end-to-end rush, splitting the U.S. defense before getting a shot off on Rigsby who came sliding out of her net. One official raised her hand to call Rigsby for tripping while Nieminen buried the loose puck into the open net. As the Finns flooded the ice to celebrate, Rigsby motioned to the official that she had been interfered with in her attempt to make the save. After a lengthy video review the officials disallowed the goal and gave Finland a power play for what was ruled to be a trip by Rigsby on the play. When overtime wasn't enough to settle the score, it marked the second straight year an IIHF women's final has been decided in a shootout, coming on the heels of the U.S. gold-medal victory at the 2018 Olympics. "We set out on a mission to win the world championship, that was our goal," said Rigsby, who stopped four of the five shots in the shootout. "For us to do it for the fifth time in a row and the fashion we d i d i t wa s p r ett y incredible." P Five, The Hard Way U.S. Women Win Fifth Straight Gold In Nail-Biting Fashion "We set out on a mission to win the world championship...and for us to do it for the fifth time in a row...it was pretty incredible." – ALEX RIGSBY, U.S. Goalie WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP O F F T HE D R AW