Three area women's hockey players are one win away from an Olympic medal.
Warroad's Gigi Marvin and Grand Forks' Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux all had one assist as Team USA cruised to a 6-0 victory over Finland in the final game of preliminary-round play at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
The result locks in Monday's semifinal games: The Americans play Sweden at 2 p.m., while Canada plays Finland at 5 p.m.
Team USA, which hasn't been challenged yet in these Games, scored four times in the first, once in the second and once in the third against the Finns to improve to 3-0.
"I thought it was awesome," said Marvin, who registered three shots on goal and a plus-three rating. "I thought there was a good pace. Finland came out hard and so did we at the beginning of the first period. It was great to put in a couple of goals early on."
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Monique, who ranks third on the U.S. squad with seven points, set up the second goal with a drop pass to Molly Engstrom. Marvin followed by setting up Meghan Duggan for the third goal.
The area trio now has a combined 14 points and a plus-18 rating in three games.
"I thought we played really well in the first period," Monique said. "I think we kind of let back in the second and third. Our first period was our strongest. We came out with a win, but I think we still need to play better."
It appears as if the Americans and Canadians are on a crash course for a gold-medal showdown. The U.S. has outscored its three opponents 31-1, while Canada has outscored its three opponents 41-2.
Finland, which upset the U.S. once this winter, didn't stand in the way Thursday.
The Americans' three-goal string in the span of three minutes, 21 seconds midway through the first period pretty much put the game away because Jessie Vetter was in net. Vetter, the former Wisconsin goalie who won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the best player in college hockey last season, has yet to give up a goal in two Olympic games.
"We played (Finland) a couple of weeks ago and that was kind of a similar score," Monique said. "You never know. They have a really good goaltender and she made that great save when it was still 0-0. It was good to get a couple of goals right away on her because if she goes on a good 10 minutes with making a couple of good saves, she's hard to score on."
The Americans will now be able to relax through the weekend and prepare for a young Sweden team that has victories over Switzerland and Slovakia. Sweden lost to Canada 13-1.
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"It's been three games in five days and it kind of wears on you," Marvin said. "It'll be nice to have some relaxation, hang out with the family, and bring everything back in and refocus and get ready for the next game.
"Sweden plays their zone pretty well. They play their system. We're just going to have to bring our same speed and energy that we bring to the ice every single day and we are just going to have to compete for 60 minutes. They're definitely a tough team. It's the semifinals. You have to show up to play."
