Feeling Golden

It was midway through the second period of the Olympic gold medal women's hockey game between the United States and Canada. 

The announcers had just finished talking about Sarah Fillier, the Princeton player who was one of Canada's leading scorers in the tournament. Among other things, they mentioned that Fillier was the youngest player on her team at age 21.

Shortly after that, Princeton's other Canadian team member, Claire Thompson, took a shot that was blocked. Suddenly the Americans were coming the other way, and Thompson was skating backwards into her zone. In the next few seconds, Thompson dove fully extended behind the goal to try to knock the puck away from an American skater and then, having gotten up and to the front of the net, blocked a shot to end that threat.

The Canadians then cleared the puck and immediately scored. It was a huge moment in the game. Instead of possibly a 2-1 game, it was now 3-0 Canada and the hole would prove to be too deep for the U.S.

What Thompson did on the defensive end was subtle and went largely unnoticed. TigerBlog wouldn't have paid much attention to it were it not for the fact that the player involved was a Princeton alum. 

Still, it was the kind of effort you make when a gold medal is on the line. It's the kind of play that makes it a gold medal on the line to a gold medal around your neck.

And that's where the gold was afterwards. Final score: Canada 3, USA 2. Gold medals to the Canadians, including Fillier and Thompson.

In winning, Fillier and Thompson doubled the number of Princeton women who have won Olympic gold medals, as they joined rower Caroline Lind (2008, 2012) and water polo player Ashleigh Johnson (2016, 2021) as Princeton women to have won gold. 

When Fillier returns to Princeton, she'll become the third athlete to compete as a Tiger after winning Olympic gold, joining Johnson and basketball player Bill Bradley. 

Also for Fillier and Thompson, this continued an incredible stretch of success together. It started with the ECAC tournament championship – Princeton's first – in 2020. The pandemic erupted the next week, which prevented Princeton from going for the NCAA title that was the Tigers' as much as anybody's that year.

From there, the two were again teammates on a championship team, this time Canada's team that won the World Championship last summer in Calgary. And now, to that, you can add the Olympic championship.

They were hardly bystanders on the Canadian team. Fillier finished the tournament with eight goals and three assists, which left her second in the tournament and one away form the Olympic record. 

Thompson had an assist on Canada's first goal of the night, her 11th of the tournament (a record for defenders) in seven games. For a little perspective, Thompson had 16 assists in 31 games her senior year at Princeton.

The game marked the sixth time in the seven Olympiads that have featured women's hockey that the U.S. and Canada played in the final. The goal that put Canada up 3-0 made it the first time in all of those games that either team led at any point by three goals.

The Americans wouldn't go quietly. A shorthanded goal late in the second period made it a 3-1 game after two, giving the Americans the momentum as the third period started. 

The U.S. team swarmed to start the final period but couldn't get any closer. As time wound down, Canada seemed to be in control but never comfortable. The Americans pulled their goalie in the final two minutes and had a power play on top of that, which made the drama build even more.

Shot after shot was drilled at the Canada goal. Finally, the U.S. was able to score – but it came with only 13.5 seconds left. Was there time for another? Do you believe in miracles, as it were?

Not this time. The U.S. didn't get off a shot as the buzzer sounded.

In the end, the better team won, both the game and the tournament. Canada was dominant the entire time, with blowout wins over every other opponent and two wins over the U.S.

And, also in the end, there were the two Princetonians, draped in gold, champions together - again.