NICK FEAKES | Sports Editor
Former Lindenwood hockey goalie Nicole Hensley has won a gold medal as the United States beat Canada 3-2 at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
In what USA Today dubbed “the greatest game in U.S. women’s hockey history,” veteran Joycelene Lamoureaux-Davidson poked a shot past the Canadian goalie to give the United States the lead before goalie Maddie Rooney stopped a Canadian shot to end the game in a sudden-death shootout.
The United States scored in the first period before Canada got two second-period goals to take the lead. Late in the third period, the Americans tied the game up to send it to overtime. Overtime didn’t produce any goals, which forced the game to be decided by the much-maligned shootout.
Bold and gold pic.twitter.com/dvXq5dHDJW
— Nicole Hensley (@NicHens29) February 22, 2018
The win marks a turn around for the United States women’s hockey team as it lost both the 2014 and 2010 gold-medal games to the Canadians. Canada has won gold in women’s hockey at the previous four Olympic games dating back to the 2002 event in Salt Lake City.
Hensley played sparingly at the Olympics. However, the Lakewood, Colorado, native posted a shutout in her Olympic debut against the Olympic Athletes of Russia. Russian athletes have had to compete under the Olympic banner in Pyeongchang as a result of their state-led doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Hensley is the NCAA Division I all-time save leader with 4,094 saves. The goaltender played at Lindenwood from 2012-2016 earning a .921 save percentage during that time.
