Canada and the U.S. took care of business Saturday at the IIHF Women's World Championship to set up another gold-medal clash between the rivals.
The Americans dismantled Czechia 9-1 in the first semifinal. Tessa Janecke, Amanda Kessel, and Hilary Knight each tallied two goals in the contest. Defender Caroline Harvey registered four points to match Finland's Petra Nieminen atop the tournament's scoring leaderboard. Aerin Frankel made 14 saves in the win.
Canada had a closer outing, defeating Switzerland 5-1 in the other semifinal. Despite dominating the shot tally, the Canadians didn't find the back of the net until Sarah Fillier finally solved netminder Andrea Braendli at the game's midway point.
Fillier added another two goals to complete her first hat trick at the world championship and put the game out of reach. Natalie Spooner tallied three assists in the victory, while Ann-Renee Desbiens made eight saves en route to the win.
Canada defeated the U.S. 4-3 in the shootout during the tournament's preliminary round. Knight and Kessel scored for the Americans in the final minute of regulation to send the game into overtime.
Canada edged the United States 2-1 in the 2022 gold-medal game in September. Brianne Jenner scored both goals for the Canadians.
The gold-medal matchup commences Sunday at 7 pm ET.
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