Canada loses gold in overtime to rival U.S. team; Jacobs to curl for gold

MILAN — Canada’s women’s hockey team was denied a repeat gold medal after a crushing 2-1 overtime defeat to the United States on Day 13 of the Milan Cortina Games.

The deciding goal came about four minutes into overtime after American forward Megan Keller scored a shot past Canadian goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens.

“Everything happens so fast,” Desbiens said about the loss in overtime. “On the shots you never quite know where it goes and it squeaked in. I’ll see that one for a long time.”

Canadian Kristin O’Neill had opened the scoring in the second period after taking a centring pass from Laura Stacey and sliding the puck past American goalie Aerin Frankel.

But U.S. captain Hilary Knight evened the score 1-1 with just two minutes left in the third, with Laila Edwards and Keller getting the assists.

It was the seventh time the two countries have faced off for Olympic gold in women’s hockey. The U.S. also beat Canada for gold in 1998 and in 2018.

“It’s tough to lose that way with a three-on-three,” said Canadian forward Natalie Spooner after the match. “We were right there all game.

“We had a great start, we were getting chances. It was one of the best games we were able to put together.”

Canada coach Troy Ryan added the team “battled right to the end.”

“I thought we, as a group, played smart. We played above them, we forced turnovers, capitalized on some, but it just wasn’t enough tonight,” said Ryan.

“Just really, really proud of them. Disappointed, and I feel for them, but definitely proud.”

In curling, Canada’s men’s team is heading to the gold medal match.

The team skipped by Brad Jacobs secured its spot in the Olympic final after 5-4 extra-end win over Norway in the semifinals.

The Canadian team held small leads throughout the match, but the plucky Norwegian side refused to buckle, scoring the lone deuce of the game in the 10th end to tie it.

Jacobs then used hammer in the 11th to win the match.

“They gave us everything we could handle,” the Canadian skip said of the Norwegian team. “We were just able to play smart and manage the scoreboard well. Even though we had to go to an extra, that’s fine.”

Canada will face Great Britain on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Rachel Homan has booked a spot in the women’s semifinals.

After a sluggish start, Homan’s Ottawa-based crew roared into medal contention with five straight wins, culminating in a pivotal 10-7 win over South Korea’s Eunji Gim on Thursday.

The win secured a top-four finish for Homan, Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes.

Canada scored four points in the sixth end and Homan made a hit for the win in the 10th to close round-robin play at 6-3.

Canada and South Korea had entered the contest tied at 5-3, with both teams needing a win to move on.

In men’s action earlier Thursday, Jacobs and his Calgary-based foursome lost 8-6 to Norway in their final round-robin game to finish second in the standings with a 7-2 record and set up a rematch with Ramsfjell in the semis.

The Norwegians jumped out to an early lead, scoring three in the first end and never trailed across the game.

Jacobs and his Calgary-based team cut their deficit to 7-5 in the sixth end, then stole one in the seventh, but couldn’t completely close the gap.

Canada hasn’t won a gold medal in men’s or women’s curling since Sochi 2014, when Jacobs and Jennifer Jones led their teams to the top of the podium.

In freestyle skiing, three Canadians have qualified for the women’s halfpipe finals, including Olympic gold medallist Cassie Sharpe who was taken away by sled after crashing in one of her runs.

Sharpe, of Comox, B.C., fell during her second run and waved to the crowd as she was carried away by medical personnel.

The 33-year-old still ranked third overall with 88.25 points in her first run, qualifying her among the top 12 going to Saturday’s finals.

Sharpe won gold in the event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and silver at Beijing 2022.

Calgary’s Amy Fraser also qualified for the final, ranking seventh after scoring 81.75 points in her second run, where she will be joined by Rachael Karker, of Erin, Ont., who came ninth after earning 78.25 points.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2026.