The Medal Round of the Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will continue Monday with 45 of the PWHL’s 61 Olympians on the ice for the Semifinals. Below is a closer look at the action ahead.
MONDAY’S SEMIFINAL PREVIEW
Both matchups mirror the semifinals played on Feb. 17, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.
10:40 A.M. ET: UNITED STATES (A1) VS. SWEDEN (B1)
The first semifinal is a battle between the tournament’s two unbeaten teams. The U.S. scored five goals in each of their four preliminary round games before putting up six goals against Italy in the quarterfinals. The Americans boast nine of the tournament’s 17 players with five or more points, including Seattle’s Alex Carpenter (3G, 3A), Hannah Bilka (4G, 1A) and captain Hilary Knight (2G, 3A), Boston captain Megan Keller (2G, 4A) and Minnesota’s Britta Curl-Salemme (1G, 4A). The U.S. has produced four straight shutout wins, backed by Boston’s Aerin Frankel and Ottawa’s Gwyneth Philips, who have produced a record-setting shutout streak of 271:23 dating back to their opening game against Czechia. Sweden cruised through Group B before upsetting the Czechs with a 2-0 shutout to launch Friday’s quarterfinals. Toronto’s Sara Hjalmarsson (2G, 3A) is fourth in team scoring with five points in five games, followed closely by Montréal’s Lina Ljungblom with two goals and three points. The countries have met four times in the Olympic semifinals, with the Swedes pulling off arguably the greatest upset in Olympic women’s hockey history against the Americans when the tournament was last hosted in Italy back in 2006, winning 3-2 in a shootout. The U.S. won each of the other three semifinal matchups, 4-0 in Salt Lake City 2002, 9-1 in Vancouver 2010 and 6-1 in Sochi 2014, however none of those victories paved the way to a gold medal triumph.
3:10 P.M. ET: CANADA (A2) VS. SWITZERLAND (A5)
The second semifinal features a rematch of last Saturday’s preliminary round where Canada took the ice for the first time in a 4-0 victory, outshooting Switzerland 55-6. New York’s Sarah Fillier (3G, 3A) and Toronto’s Daryl Watts (2G, 4A) share the team lead with six points and tallied a goal and an assist apiece in that contest. Seattle’s Julia Gosling (3G, 2A) scored the first of her tournament-leading three power play goals against the Swiss, and Canada’s top scoring defender, Claire Thompson (1G, 3A) of Vancouver, also the top scoring blue liner in Olympic history, picked up two assists. Canada got a boost in their 5-1 quarterfinal win over Germany with the return of Montréal captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who made history with her 18th career Olympic goal to tie the all-time record. Boston’s Alina Müller also made Olympic history in Saturday’s quarterfinals, becoming just the sixth woman to score 15 career goals and moved up to eighth on the all-time scoring list with 27 points in Switzerland’s 1-0 triumph over Finland. This will be the third semifinal meeting between the countries on the Olympic stage, with Canada winning 3-1 in Sochi 2014, and 10-3 in Beijing 2022, before going on to win gold in both tournaments. Canada has never lost to Switzerland in 19 games historically at the Olympics and Women’s Worlds, outscoring them 133-9.
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CAPTAINS ON THE CUSP OF HISTORY
- Knight (14G, 18A) is one goal away from setting a new U.S. Olympic record currently shared with Natalie Darwitz and Kathryn King (15G each), and one point away from setting a new U.S. Olympic record currently shared with Jenny Potter (11G, 21A).
- Poulin (18G) is one goal away from setting a new all-time Olympic record currently shared with fellow Canadian Hayley Wickenheiser.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…
- Associated Press – Muller 1 step closer to 2nd Olympic women’s hockey medal, 12 years after helping Swiss win bronze
- USA Today – How much does Hilary Knight mean to USA Hockey? We asked her teammates
- The Globe and Mail – What a six-word message written on a hockey stick means for Canada’s women’s team in Milan
- Toronto Sun – These Canadian women won Olympic gold. That was only the beginning
- King 5 News – Seattle watch party for Team USA women’s hockey showcases growing demand for women’s sports
JOCKS IN JILLS
The Jocks in Jills crew have landed in Milan where they’ll continue to welcome guests, provide expert analysis and break down all the action. Today’s episode featured a breakdown of the results from Saturday’s final two quarterfinals. The discussion covers the key performances, moments, and overall takeaways from the matches. The episode also looks ahead to Monday’s semifinals, with analysis, what each team will need to do to advance, and what fans should look out for.
Up Next: Tessa and Julia will report live from Milano Cortina 2026 following Monday’s semifinals between USA and Sweden, and Canada and Switzerland, live on the PWHL’s YouTube Channel. The Jocks in Jills social channels will also include exclusive, behind-the-scenes access throughout the week as the tournament heads to its conclusion.
PWHL LEADERS AT MILANO CORTINA 2026
Semifinal Teams
CANADA (23 PWHL PLAYERS):
- Sarah Fillier (NY): 3-3—6 PTS
- Daryl Watts (TOR): 2-4—6 PTS
- Julia Gosling (SEA): 3-2—5 PTS
- Kristin O’Neill (NY): 2-2—4 PTS
- Claire Thompson (VAN): 1-3—4 PTS
- Emily Clark (OTT): 2-1—3 PTS
- Brianne Jenner (OTT): 1-2—3 PTS
- Laura Stacey (MTL): 1-2—3 PTS
- Renata Fast (TOR): 0-3—3 PTS
- Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL): 1-1—2 PTS
- Blayre Turnbull (TOR): 1-1—2 PTS
- Erin Ambrose (MTL): 0-2—2 PTS
- Sophie Jaques (VAN): 0-2—2 PTS
- Emma Maltais (TOR): 0-2—2 PTS
- Sarah Nurse (VAN): 0-2—2 PTS
- Ella Shelton (TOR): 0-2—2 PTS
- Jenn Gardiner (VAN): 1-0—1 PTS
- Natalie Spooner (TOR): 1-0—1 PTS
- Jocelyne Larocque (OTT): 5 SOG
- Kati Tabin (MTL): 4 SOG
- Ann-Renée Desbiens (MTL): 2-1, 1 SO, 2.09 GAA, .905 SV%
- Emerance Maschmeyer (VAN): 2-0, 1 SO, 0.47 GAA, .957 SV%
- Kayle Osborne (NY): Has not played
SWEDEN (4 PWHL PLAYERS):
- Sara Hjalmarsson (TOR): 2-3—5 PTS
- Lina Ljungblom (MTL): 2-1—3 PTS
- Maja Nylén Persson (NY): 0-3—3 PTS
- Anna Kjellbin (TOR): 0-2—2 PTS
SWITZERLAND (2 PWHL PLAYERS):
- Alina Müller (BOS): 3-1—4 PTS
- Nicole Vallario (NY): 4 SOG
UNITED STATES (16 PWHL PLAYERS):
- Alex Carpenter (SEA): 3-3—6 PTS
- Megan Keller (BOS): 2-4—6 PTS
- Hannah Bilka (SEA): 4-1—5 PTS
- Hilary Knight (SEA): 2-3—5 PTS
- Britta Curl-Salemme (MIN): 1-4—5 PTS
- Taylor Heise (MIN): 1-2—3 PTS
- Haley Winn (BOS): 1-2—3 PTS
- Kendall Coyne Schofield (MIN): 2-0—2 PTS
- Hayley Scamurra (MTL): 2-0—2 PTS
- Kelly Pannek (MIN): 0-1—1 PTS
- Lee Stecklein (MIN): 0-1—1 PTS
- Grace Zumwinkle (MIN): 0-1—1 PTS
- Cayla Barnes (SEA): 5 SOG
- Rory Guilday (OTT): +2
- Aerin Frankel (BOS): 3-0, 2 SO, 0.33 GAA, .978 SV%
- Gwyneth Philips (OTT): 2-0, 1 SO, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 SV%
TOMORROW IN OLYMPIC HISTORY
On Feb. 16, 2022, Finland won a second straight Olympic bronze medal in Beijing with a 4-0 victory over Switzerland, powered by goals from Vancouver’s Michelle Karvinen and Boston’s Susanna Tapani, and an assist by Ottawa’s Ronja Savolainen. Three of the four teams still in competition in 2026 are the only other countries to previously win an Olympic bronze medal, including Sweden (2002), the United States (2006) and Switzerland (2014).
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