VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - Natalie Darwitz didn't want to let a scary hit keep her out of Sunday's title game against archrival Canada, as long as it wouldn't keep her out of the high-traffic areas.
No problem on either account.
Darwitz parked herself at the side of the net to score a power-play goal 1:18 into the third period, and Jessie Vetter made 34 saves to lead the U.S. to the Hockey Canada Cup championship with a 2-1 win over Canada.
"I was pretty shaken up after last night," said Darwitz, who was questionable after being driven head-first into the boards late in a 4-0 semifinal win over Finland. "Obviously the head's pretty important but you don't want to go into the game thinking 'I can't go into corners,' so as soon as I did a concussion test and got cleared I focused on the game and how I was going to play."
In addition to corners, the U.S. captain went hard to the net for the winning goal.
With Canadian captain Hayley Wickenheiser in the penalty box for slashing Vetter after a save, Julie Chu's one-time blast from the point sailed wide and bounced hard off the end boards to Darwitz at the side of the goal, where she quickly chipped the puck over Kim St. Pierre from a sharp angle.
"That's part of leadership is stepping forward and taking that responsibility and then going on the ice and performing," U.S. coach Mark Johnson said. "When the game is on the line they want to be on the ice and in these situations."
Monique Lamoureux also scored for the Americans, who also beat their rivals in the round-robin portion of the seven-day, four-team Olympic tune-up tournament.
Combined with the earlier 4-2 win, the U.S. has won six of the last eight against Canada, including the last two World Championships. And now they ve got a pair of wins in the building that will host the medal-round games at the 2010 Winter Olympics in just over five months.
"I don't know what goes on in their head but if we are in their head that's probably a pretty good thing for us," Darwitz said.
The tournament, which was also as a test event for local organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics, only attracted 1,125 to watch Finland beat Sweden in the third-place game earlier in the afternoon. But there were 8,137 fans in the seats at GM Place for the final between the two best teams in women's hockey. The bitter rivals treated them to a fast first period and physical play throughout.
"Anytime these two countries come on the ice it's a battle," Darwitz said.
Vetter, who was in goal for a shocking 3-2 loss to Finland in the first game of the tournament and on the bench for the first game against Canada, got the call in the final after shutting out Finland in the semis. She was tested early, and responded well.
"The Canadians came to play," said Vetter, who made a half-dozen great saves early. "As a goaltender you just try to hold them of as much as you can."
Canada outshot the U.S. 20-9 in the first period, but it was the Americans that opened the scoring on a power play midway through when Lamoureux's centering pass from below the goal line deflected in off a Canadian player's skate.
Meghan Agosta finally beat Vetter to tie it on a 5-on-3 power play with 24.3 seconds left in the period, chipping in a rebound of Wickenheiser's point shot.
Where Vetter dominated the opening 20 minutes with a handful of highlight stops, St. Pierre took over in the second period. She used the glove for her best saves, including a one-timer by Rachel Drazan from between the faceoff circles.
St. Pierre, who finished with 28 saves, said she wasn't concerned with the recent record against the U.S., pointing to the 2002 Olympics, when Canada won the gold medal after losing eight straight leading up the Games. These two teams will meet seven or eight more times before the Olympics in February.
"Nobody was crying in the dressing room or nothing like that, St. Pierre said. "Hopefully next time we get here it is going to be a better result.
