Less than 24 hours after winning gold at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, running on no sleep and powered solely by gelato and an adrenaline high only known to Olympic champions, Megan Keller, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Laila Edwards and Caroline Harvey spoke with NBCOlympics.com. The four golden ladies broke down the U.S. women's hockey team's epic gold medal win over Canada, the golden goal in overtime, the locker room talks during the Olympic final and for some, going back to class.
Megan [Keller], talk to me about what was going through your head in overtime as you approach the net and scored that goal?
Megan Keller: As I approach the net, honestly, not much, I wasn't really thinking too much. Taylor [Heise] made an incredible pass across three zones, and once I got the puck, I think I just honestly was playing hockey at that point, trying to get to the net, and when I saw it went in, I just couldn't wait to celebrate with teammates. It was an incredible moment for our team and obviously would not have gotten to that moment without the incredible play of everybody throughout the tournament. I could go down the list, Aerin Frankel, Laila [Edwards] and Hill [Knight] with the game-tying goal. All the performances, it was just a special Olympics for our team.
Did you realize right away that it went in?
Keller: I felt like it was really quiet, and then I saw the puck kind of trickle across, and that's when I heard the fans erupt. And it was then, that I think it hit me that I was like, wait, it actually, it went in. I didn't realize it like right away, it felt like a couple of minutes is how long it took for the puck to cross the goal line.
Going into the locker room, going into the third, what was said? It was kind of do-or-die at that moment. What was talked about in the locker room?
Kendall Coyne Schofield: I think the room between the second and third period was cool, calm and collected. I think, you know, there was a deeper message after the first period, knowing that wasn't our best period, and we had so much more to give. And the beauty of that is we were only going to go up from that first period, and we did that absolutely the second, and then in the third, the message was to continue the push that we had in the second and continue to find a way to put one in the net. But you know we were in a good spot after the second period.
Then, the break before overtime, what was the message?
Coyne Schofield: We got this. There wasn't an ounce of doubt in the room, and it was just a matter of who was going to finish it. And we knew it was going to take everybody to get it done. And obviously Meg [Keller] got it done. You know, she's the first one to tell you about everybody else, not herself, obviously. But you know, as soon as Hilary's goal went in, after that incredible shot by Laila, it was we got this and we did.
Can you describe, for people that are obviously not out there, what that three-on-three overtime is like? Because the intensity just seems incredible.
Caroline Harvey: Everything's kind of amplified. I mean, there's a lot more ice, and it is do-or-die in this situation. So, your mindset has to be, obviously, you have like, a check kind of and you have to be watching her. You have to have a defensive mindset as well as offensive mindset to jump if there's a scoring opportunity. So, it's kind of balancing that when you're out there.
This was obviously the closest by far game that you had throughout the whole Olympic tournament. Did you feel that this was a different Canada that you were seeing from earlier in the Games?
Coyne Schofield: Yeah, I think we talked about the push in the first, I think that was that push in the first was the best we saw in the four periods we played against them up until that point, including the three in the prelims and then that first period. So, yeah, but at the end of the day, it's a gold medal game there. Everyone's going to bring their best. You know, they brought their best, and so did we. So, I'm not surprised by the push and the effort by them yesterday [Feb.19].
When you guys won, they put the medal around your neck. What's the feeling at that moment?
Laila Edwards: Kind of just a dream come true. You know, you dreamt of it your whole life, and really starts to sink in when they put the medal around your neck. It is really heavy. It's heavier than I expected, my neck hurts.
What's next? Are you going to enjoy a couple days in Milan, what does a gold medalist do?
Keller: I think just hang out together as a group. We've talked about it a little bit, you know, and we leave on Monday [Feb. 23] or whatever day, like we're all going our separate ways back to college or back to our pro teams. And, you know, life kind of moves on. So, you know, I think just enjoying these moments together, realizing, like, what we did was incredibly special, and will kind of share that forever being Olympic champions, but, yeah, just enjoying the company.
Laila and Caroline, you're headed back to school together. How do you go back into a college class? Describe what that's going to be like walking back on campus.
Edwards: I think we should be excused from every class the rest of this semester. But, I mean, yeah, it'll be, it'll be interesting, but unfortunately, well, we have to go to class to graduate, so we're going to have to bear down and show up.
Harvey: It'll be an exciting time, we hop right into playoffs, so it'll be something exciting for us.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.