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POULIN’S HAT TRICK LEADS CANADA TO U22 SWEEP OF U.S.
TORONTO, Ont. – Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que.) had a hat trick, scoring once in each period, to
lead Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team to a 7-2 win over the United States and a sweep of the
three-game series on Saturday night at the MasterCard Centre.
It is the second sweep of the Americans in three tries for Canada, who has not lost in regulation to the
U.S. since the 2004 series in Lake Placid, N.Y. and Burlington, Vt.
A pair of power play goals helped Canada start strong, with Laura Fortino (Hamilton, Ont.) opening the
scoring 7:19 in, with assists going to Jillian Saulnier (Halifax, N.S.) and Lauriane Rougeau (Beaconsfield,
Que.), and Poulin’s first making it 2-0 on another man advantage six minutes later, this time with Brigette
Lacquette (Waterhen, Man.) taking care of set-up duties.
Canada’s, and Poulin’s, momentum continued into the second, with the 2010 Olympic gold medallist jumping
on the rebound of a Chelsea Karpenko (Winnipeg, Man.) shot and beating American goaltender Alyssa Grogan to
make it 3-0 just 58 seconds into the middle frame.
The Americans did manage to cut into the Canadian lead before the end of the second period, with Amanda
Kessel and Kendall Coyne both solving Geneviève Lacasse (Scarborough, Ont.) before the horn sounded to make
it 3-2, but that would be as close as the U.S. would get.
The third period was all Canada, as the hosts pulled away with four unanswered goals. Rebecca Johnston
(Sudbury, Ont.) needed just eight seconds to make it 4-2, with Poulin picking up her third point of the
night, and Jennifer Wakefield (Pickering, Ont.) set up Saulnier for the 5-2 goal at 8:27.
The penalty kill was responsible for Canada’s sixth goal, with Vicki Bendus (Wasaga Beach, Ont.)
redirecting a Jenelle Kohanchuk (Winnipeg, Man.) shot to make it 6-2 shorthanded , and Poulin capped off a
four-point night with her hat trick goal, rifling a shot past Grogan at 13:17.
With the series done, Canada’s players will return to their club teams to kick off the 2010-11 season. The
Canadian coaching and scouting staffs will evaluate players during the season before determining who will
represent Canada as it defends its gold medal at the 2011 MLP Cup next January in Kreuzlingen,
Switzerland.
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