MILAN — The U.S. women’s hockey team knows that as Olympic favorites, things can go wrong on the ice — and Team USA isn’t afraid to fight back.
Abbey Murphy was once again in the middle of the action, drawing and taking a penalty Team USA wins 6-0 over hosts Italy To advance to their seventh consecutive Olympic semifinal.
“A little spicy,” U.S. forward Taylor Heise said. “I don’t want to say too much about it, but I think at the end of the day, we had to play a specific style of hockey, and we’re ready to do whatever we need to do to be successful.”
It was a pattern of antics that irritated the American players as well as coach John Wroblewski, who at one point became embroiled in a brawl with the Italian coaches. Later, he complained about the officials not giving due respect to his team.
“You see it over and over again,” Wroblewski said. “A team that maybe isn’t as deep or skilled is allowed to survive and openly break the rules.”
The main fireworks on Friday came late in the second period, when Hannah Bilka fell on Italy goalkeeper Gabriela Durante after her sixth goal, causing a stampede in front of the net. Murphy arrived at the scene and was seen throwing some punches at Italy’s Franziska Stocker.
Stocker and Murphy were called for minor penalties. The 23-year-old Minnesota star Murphy was all smiles as he walked into the penalty box.
“When you represent your country, you hold yourself to a higher standard,” Murphy said. “So, anybody who gets cross-checked in front of the net, I’m not going to see that happen. That’s not me. I’m not going to let it go like that.”
According to ESPN Research, Murphy has committed nine penalties in these Olympics, involving six different violations. The rest of the American team together took 10 penalties.
“He’s electric,” Heise said. “I think she drives people crazy. Obviously, I want her on my team, she’s a great player and a great human being. I’ll always say she’s the nicest person in general, but if you get on her bad side, she’s not. … She helped us in the Canada game. I think she had three assists and four drawn penalties. In my opinion, that’s better than a hat trick. So, she knows where she can get under people’s skin. Can.”
When Murphy left for Milan, he led the NCAA in goals (36 in 26 games) as well as penalties (23).
“Our coach said, ‘Find that sweet line,’ ” Murphy said. “Don’t get in trouble. Don’t do anything stupid that will keep you out of the next game or any other game. But yes, you know me.”
Friday’s quarterfinal game, featuring a large crowd of Italian and American fans, quickly turned wild.
“It wasn’t really hockey on points,” forward Tessa Jenneke said. “It can be frustrating. But if that’s what they’re going to do to win, that’s what they’re going to do. You’ve got to play through it and be smart.”
The Americans have dominated Milan and outscored opponents 26–1, scoring at least five goals in every game.
As the US awaits its semifinal opponent, the team brings home a 271–23 shutout streak, shared between goalkeepers Erin Frankel and Gwyneth Phillips.
“Guys always try to play hard with us and they should,” veteran defenseman Lee Stecklein said. “Really proud of the way our team put itself together, making sure we’re focused on ourselves. I think fortunately we have some great leaders in our locker room. The way Hillary Knight has been able to bring a room back together, re-center us, make sure we’re focused on the right things.”
The US outshot Italy 51–6, including 20–2 in the first period.
Meanwhile, Italy finished the Winter Games with two wins in five games – showing a big improvement after going 0-5 in their only other Olympic appearance in 2006.
