Even when the stakes are at their highest, the USA women’s Olympic hockey team has always found a way to skate into the spotlight. And at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, they once again skated their way to victory. Led by team captain, Hilary Knight, team USA combined speed, teamwork, and relentless spirit to uphold their amazingly impressive undefeated record throughout the games.
The USA women’s hockey team has long been a shining standout amongst American athletes at the winter games as few other teams can proclaim that they have placed at every Olympics since their sports introduction. Since 1998, the team has won gold three times, silver four times, and bronze only once. And in seven out of the eight Olympic games since 1998, USA has found themselves in an intense final showdown for gold with their neighbor to the North…Canada.
At the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic games, the United States Women’s team found themselves yet again in this familiar position. However this time, the team arrived with an undefeated record of 6-0, a five game run of shutting out their opponents, and over 330 consecutive minutes without letting in a single goal.
In the final match-up of USA vs Canada on Thursday February 19th, 2026, The USA women’s Olympic hockey team clutched the gold medal with a final score of 2-1. Despite Canada’s Kristin O’Neill scoring the first goal of the game mere seconds into the beginning of the second period, USA’s team captain Hilary Knight managed to tie the game up with just 2:04 seconds remaining in the game. From there, USA’s Megan Keller scored the winning goal 4:07 into the overtime period securing the gold medal for the team.
Mere days after the women’s hockey team’s historic Olympic run, the men’s USA olympic hockey team also managed to get the gold medal after 46 years, securing what has shaped it to be one of the most remarkable Olympic runs for the United States in the history of the sport. Despite this, the story captivating the media in the days since the men’s run has been President Trump’s phone call to the men’s hockey team in the locker room after their win where the President stated that if he were to exclude the women’s team from the invitation of attending his State of the Union Address, he “probably would be impeached.”
In addition, Trump told the men’s team that they are going to “have to bring the women’s team” – a comment which elicited laughter from most athletes in the room. The women’s team subsequently declined the President’s invitation to the White House and released a statement proclaiming their gratefulness for the acknowledgement.
In a world in which female athletes are consistently in a position of needing to prove their competence and exceptionalism to even their country’s most powerful, the players of the USA women’s hockey team remain an inspiration to young female athletes everywhere.
In fact, several players from Hingham High School’s very own Harborwomen hockey team share have shared their admiration for the women with senior Katie Teague stating that “The USA women’s hockey team really dominated this year’s olympics and they really show how the sport is growing, and they are really inspiring as they take control of the game.”
In addition, the Haborwomen’s Megan Buckley shared that she “doesn’t think America could have a stronger group of women to represent the next female generation and be such great role models. They are such a strong group of women who truly deserve all the glory, fame, and of course the gold medal.”
As they continue to empower the next generation of female athletes, The women’s team has showcased precisely how women can achieve immense success in the world of sports and how foster the spirit that produces more fierce and determined athletes to take on the 2030 Winter Olympics.
