The first showdown is next.
The United States and Canada plan for Tuesday’s matchup to be the first of two showdowns at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy.
Just as it has been in six of the seven Winter Games since women’s hockey became an Olympic sport in 1998, the U.S. and Canada fully expect to see one another in the gold medal game on Feb. 19.
Before the eight-team single-elimination portion of the tournament begins, though, there’s a matter of finishing group play.
That will happen Tuesday for the Americans, when they face rival Canada at 1:10 p.m. Central time (8:10 p.m. local time) at Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. The game will be broadcast on the USA Network and streamed live on Peacock.
Marton Monus / Reuters
Canada is 2-0 at these Games — it will close group play on Thursday against Finland, a game that was postponed by a week due to an illness that spread through Finland’s team.
The U.S. is 3-0 at these Olympics after a 5-0 win against Switzerland on Monday.
And southeastern Minnesota has a great reason to be heavily invested in Tuesday’s rivalry matchup:
is a key forward on the U.S. team.
Heise picked up her second point — and first assist — as an Olympian on Monday when she set up Hannah Bilka’s goal that gave the U.S. a 3-0 lead 1:17 into the third period.
Heise, who scored her
in a 5-0 win on Saturday against Finland, took a feed from Caroline Harvey at the right faceoff dot on her first shift of the third period Monday. Heise spotted Bilka at the edge of the crease on the far side of the ice and fired a pass to her. Bilka made a perfect redirect into an open side of the goal to give the U.S. some breathing room against a Swiss team that didn’t let up and received an excellent performance from goalie Andrea Braendli, who made 45 saves on 50 U.S. shots.
The U.S., which leads the Group A standings with 9 points, has outscored its three opponents thus far at the Milano Cortina Games by a combined 15-1.
Monday, five players scored once each — Haley Winn, Joy Dunne, Bilka, Alex Carpenter and Harvey.
Marton Monus / Reuters
Dunne and Harvey both added two assists, for three-point games.
“Today was another great step,” U.S. head coach John Wroblewski said. “We were strong in net and broke through offensively. It was great to see so many players contribute and this is a performance to build off as we continue the tournament.”
Winn scored 6:04 into the game for a 1-0 lead, the Dunne made it 2-0 with 5:52 to play in the second period.
The U.S. gained some breathing room early in the third, when Heise set up Bilka for a 3-0 lead 1:17 in, then Carpenter — who is tied for the tournament scoring lead with five points — scored 5:17 later for a 4-0 lead. Harvey added another goal 5:08 after that to cap the scoring and seal the third win in three games for the Americans.
U.S. goaltender Gwyneth Philips took care of the rest, stopping all 20 shots she faced before giving way to third goalie Ava McNaughton for the final two minutes. McNaughton saved the only shot she faced.
Heise and linemates Britta Curl-Salemme and Abbey Murphy provided a spark early in the game. Heise set up both Curl-Salemme and Murphy for close-range chances in the first five minutes, only to have Braendli stop both shots. Then, 5:05 into the game, Heise took a pass and entered the Swiss zone alone. She let go a heavy shot from the high slot that was targeted for the top corner of the net, but Braendli flashed her glove and made another terrific save.
Heise created another Grade-A scoring chance 7:25 into the game when she drove through the right circle with the puck, cut to the net and put a backhand on goal, but Braendli — a former Ohio State University goalie, who now plays professionally in Sweden — again slid to make a stop and keep the game scoreless.
Counting her three Under-18 Women’s World Championships appearances and four Women’s World Championships appearances, Heise has now played in 51 international tournament games and has 54 points (19 goals, 35 assists). She has won gold or silver in all seven previous international tournaments she has played in, including three golds at the U18 Worlds and two golds and two silvers at the Women’s Worlds.
Tuesday will be another “first” for Heise, though, as she’ll face Canada for the first time in Olympics play.
