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Another gold as Canada keep title
![]() Canada have a group hug on the way to retaining their Olympic title TORINO, Italy (Reuters) -- Jayna Hefford had a goal and set up another as Canada successfully defended their Olympic women's ice hockey gold medal with a 4-1 win over Sweden on Monday. The lopsided victory capped off the most dominating performance in the sport's brief Olympic history, as Canada stormed through the tournament outscoring the opposition 46-2. It marked the first time in nine world championships and three Olympics that the gold medal final did not include Canada and the archrival the United States. The Swedes upset the status quo with a shock semifinal victory over the Americans and promised more surprises for the Canadians. But any hope Sweden had of pulling off another shocker quickly vanished as Caroline Ouellette and Gillian Apps scored first period goals to put the defending champions ahead 2-0. Cherie Piper and Hefford added second period goals for Canada while Gunilla Andersson ruined Charline Lebonte's shutout bid with a third period power play tally. Earlier, Katie King notched a hat trick as the United States shutout Finland 4-0 to take the bronze medal. The Americans, upset at missing out on a chance to play for a gold medal, took their frustrations out on the Finns piling up three goals in the first period. The gold medal game between Canada and Sweden will be played later on Monday in Torino. ![]() U.S. women's ice hockey players celebrate their bronze medal victory Sweden edged the U.S. in a penalty shootout in the semifinals to stop the Americans from advancing to a rematch with Canada in the finals. It was the first time the U.S. lost in a major tournament to a team other than Canada. "At the beginning of the Games, we were looking to win one color (a gold medal) and in the end, we're taking home a different one (the bronze medal)," said Angela Ruggiero. "It was really hard right after the Sweden loss. But I am proud that we regrouped. We were really up at the beginning of today's game." Kelly Stephens opened the scoring and King followed with a pair as the U.S., the 1998 gold medalists and silver medalists in Salt Lake City four years ago, dominated play. King completed her hat trick at 1:44 of the second period to close out the scoring.
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