The drought has ended.
20 years and four Olympic games after the U.S. women’s hockey team last won a gold medal, they’ve done it again.
After regulation play at Thursday’s game in Pyeongchang ended with a tie at 2, the U.S. and defending gold medal winner Canada went into a 20 minute overtime, then a shootout.
Star forward Gigi Marvin scored the first of three goals for the U.S. in the six rounds of the penalty shootout. Ultimately, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson’s deceptively clever shot on Canada made for the final goal, and Canada couldn’t get another puck past 20-year-old U.S. goalie Maddie Rooney.
Watch the full shootout that earned #TeamUSA the #gold medal! #USAvsCAN → https://t.co/oivLEFoyf2 pic.twitter.com/0nKTDyZboE
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 22, 2018
“We just crushed the fear and crushed the doubt and just trusted in what was to come,” Marvin said in an interview with People magazine. “We’re so resilient, we have such an amazing group.”
Helmets, gloves and hockey sticks flew in the air as the teammates piled on one another and celebrated their win.
On this day in 1980, we witnessed a miracle.
Today, we witnessed redemption. pic.twitter.com/iM8AH8ttjI— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 22, 2018
Even sweeter is the fact that the victory came on the 38th anniversary of another US hockey milestone, the men’s team’s 1980 “Miracle on Ice” win over the Soviet Union at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Good things happen for hockey on February 22.
As for Marvin, it’s an added benefit that she’s trusted God throughout her Olympics journey. In an interview with Sports Spectrum’s Jason Romano, Marvin quoted Jeremiah 29:11 and credited God as her hope in the midst of uncertainty: “Every time I just come back and see God’s faithfulness. ‘Just trust in me, Gigi! Keep living this, and trusting Me. I have your life in My hands.’”
