Hayley Scamurra scored twice for USA who opened their 2026 Olympic women's hockey tournament with a decisive 5-1 win over Czechia in Italy. Alex Carpenter opened the scoring for USA in the first period. With the player advantage, Carpenter tipped home a Megan Keller slap shot to give the American's a 1-0 lead. Just over a minute apart in the second, Ohio State forward Joy Dunne scored her first career Olympic goal, followed quickly by Scamurra's first of the game. After killing a penalty, Barbora Jurickova popped out of the penalty box and beat American netminder Aerin Frankel on the breakaway to make it 3-1. But USA answered back yet again as captain Hilary Knight drove down the right win and cut to the front of the net before going high glove side to score. After a missed tripping call that raised concern from Czechia's bench, USA extended their lead to 5-1 with Scamurra notching her second of the game. “Today was a great start, but every game we have to grow,” said John Wroblewski head coach of the 2026 Olympic Women’s Hockey Team. “We’ve cultivated a style of play over the last four years, and we’re in full trust of this team as Olympians. It’s cliché, but every game, we need to grow as a team.” Aerin Frankel stopped 13 shots for USA in the win, while Klara Peslarova turned aside 37 shots in the loss. USA is scheduled to be back in action February 7 against a Finnish roster that was unable to open their tournament Thursday for their scheduled game against Canada due to a Norovirus outbreak [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/international/canada-s-olympic-opener-versus-finland-postponed-as-norovirus-runs-rampant] that has more than half their roster sick or quarantined.
