Edwards' Historic Night, Carpenter's Hat Trick Lead USA To Commanding Win

Alex Carpenter scored a hat trick and Laila Edwards became the first Black woman to score for USA at the World Championships, leading USA to a commanding 6-0 win over Czechia.

UTICA, NY — Before Friday's contest against Czechia, Laila Edwards tossed pucks into the crowd for fans after finishing her warmup.

She did not have one for her mother, Charone, as she came off the ice. But Edwards delivered a historic one to her after the game.

Edwards became the first Black woman to score for the United States in a 6-0 win against the Czechs during round-robin play at the IIHF Women's World Championship.

"It's in my stall and I'll give it to her," Edwards said.

The 20-year-old's noted moment came at 17:28 of the second period which gave the United States a 3-0 lead. Edwards collected a pass from Wisconsin Badgers teammate Britta Curl, carried the puck to the right circle and put a wrist shot over the glove of Czechia's Klara Peslarova.

"I was thinking about passing to Curl, but then I realized she was a little covered," Edwards said. "I saw that high glove side. The goalie did have a great glove, but luckily I was able to find a corner and sneak it past her."

Edwards struck again with a shorthanded tally at 3:42 of the second period to give the U.S. a four-goal cushion. After taking a pass from Kendall Coyne Schofield, Edwards skated in on a partial breakaway and beat Peslarova glove-side again.

"I was just coming in with a lot of speed," Edwards said. "It was just me and her and I kind of just rifled it low glove. She still had a great glove that game and her head should be held high."

"I have smile ear to ear, so pumped for her," Coyne Schofield said. "Two incredible goals. She's just an incredible person. She just gave us so much energy when she scored both times, the uproar, the excitement. This is the beginning of such a bright career in this jersey for Layla."

Edwards has made history throughout the season, suiting up as the first Black woman for Team USA during its Rivalry Series with Canada and now as a member of the Americans' World Championship roster.

"I think scoring will hopefully help the case with more inspiration for young girls and even more specifically young girls of color," Edwards said. "To see me at this level is great, but to see me also be successful at this level, I think, is even more important -- you know you can get there, but you can also make an impact when you get there."

Alex Carpenter recorded a hat trick with a strong net-front presence and Nicole Hensley finished with 19 saves for the Americans.

Carpenter opened the scoring 6:49 into the first period. While pinned against the end boards, Coyne Schofield slid a pass to the front of the crease. Carpenter was denied by on her first shot, but collected the rebound, shifted to her backhand and slid it past Peslarova.

The PWHL New York forward struck again at 16:29 of the second period. Defender Caroline Harvey's shot from the high slot bounced off the end boards to Carpenter at the left side of the net where she redirected it.

"After the last game we played, you can definitely see the boards are pretty lively," Carpenter said. "I was just trying to get close as I could to that post."

She completed the hat trick at 10:24 of the third period by tipping a shot by captain Hilary Knight.

Taylor Heise also scored for the U.S., which improved to 2-0. The center faked a shot in the left circle before using defender Aneta Tejralova as a screen to make it 5-0 at 5:03 of the third.

Czechia finished 0-for-7 on the power play. The Czechs were unable to convert on a 43-second 5-on-3 at the start of the second period and, later, a major penalty to Kirsten Simms, which came with a little more than 3 minutes remaining in regulation.

"I'm really proud of this group, how they handled that adversity with those penalties," Carpenter said. "Obviously, there's nothing we can do about that, but I think the way we handled it was really good."

Peslarova finished with 42 saves for Czechia, which fell to 1-1.