Simms scores in OT to lift US to 1-0 win over Canada in preliminary round of women's hockey worlds

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Simms scores in OT to lift US to 1-0 win over Canada in preliminary round of women's hockey worlds

2024-04-09 11:35 Last Updated At：11:40

UTICA, New York (AP) — Coach John Wroblewski’s bid to inject youth and speed to the United States women’s hockey lineup proved too much for rival Canada in their preliminary round-closing showdown at the world championships on Monday.

Kirsten Simms, one of four college newcomers making their tournament debuts for the U.S., scored 3:38 into overtime of a 1-0 win over Canada and clinch the Americans the Group A title heading into the playoffs.

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United States' Haley Winn (8) is upended behind the net by Canada's Brianne Jenner (19) during the first period of a hockey game at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Utica, N.Y., Monday, April 8, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

UTICA, New York (AP) — Coach John Wroblewski’s bid to inject youth and speed to the United States women’s hockey lineup proved too much for rival Canada in their preliminary round-closing showdown at the world championships on Monday.

Canada goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens (35) makes a save against United States' Abbey Murphy (37) as Canada's Ella Shelton (17) skates in to defend during the first period of a hockey game at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Utica, N.Y., Monday, April 8, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States goaltender Aerin Frankel (31) makes a save over Canada's Kristin O'Neill (43) during the second period of a hockey game at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Utica, N.Y., Monday, April 8, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States' Taylor Heise (27) reaches for the puck as Canada's Sarah Fillier (10) looks on during the second period of a hockey game at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Utica, N.Y., Monday, April 8, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada's Danielle Serdachny (92), Jaime Bourbonnais (25) and Kristin O'Neill (43) battle with United States' Kirsten Simms (9) during the second period of a hockey game at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Utica, N.Y., Monday, April 8, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States goaltender Aerin Frankel (31) makes a save as Canada's Sarah Fillier (10) looks for the rebound during the first period of a hockey game at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Utica, N.Y., Monday, April 8, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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UTICA, New York (AP) — Coach John Wroblewski’s bid to inject youth and speed to the United States women’s hockey lineup proved too much for rival Canada in their preliminary round-closing showdown at the world championships on Monday.

Canada goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens (35) makes a save against United States' Abbey Murphy (37) as Canada's Ella Shelton (17) skates in to defend during the first period of a hockey game at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Utica, N.Y., Monday, April 8, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States goaltender Aerin Frankel (31) makes a save over Canada's Kristin O'Neill (43) during the second period of a hockey game at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Utica, N.Y., Monday, April 8, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States' Taylor Heise (27) reaches for the puck as Canada's Sarah Fillier (10) looks on during the second period of a hockey game at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Utica, N.Y., Monday, April 8, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada's Danielle Serdachny (92), Jaime Bourbonnais (25) and Kristin O'Neill (43) battle with United States' Kirsten Simms (9) during the second period of a hockey game at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Utica, N.Y., Monday, April 8, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States goaltender Aerin Frankel (31) makes a save as Canada's Sarah Fillier (10) looks for the rebound during the first period of a hockey game at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Utica, N.Y., Monday, April 8, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Aerin Frankel stopped 26 shots for her second shutout of the tournament and the defending world champions finished Group A play with a 4-0 record. The goal was Simms’ first in world championship play, and follows her sophomore season at Wisconsin in which the 19-year-old led women’s college hockey in scoring.

Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 29 shots as Canada (3-1) finished second in Group A play.

The Americans advance to the quarterfinals on Thursday, when they’ll play Group B’s third-place team, which will be determined after preliminary round play ends on Tuesday. Canada will face Sweden in the quarterfinals. It’s a rematch of last year’s world championship quarterfinals, when Canada pulled out a 3-2 overtime win.

In other preliminary round action, Germany clinched the Group B title with a 1-0 win against Sweden on Franziska Feldmeier's goal with 11:54 left in regulation and Sandra Abstreiter's 32-save outing. Jenni Hiirikoski had a goal and three assists as Finland improved to 1-3 in Group A play with a 5-2 win over Switzerland (0-3).

Speed was the difference in an outing the Americans wore down the experience-laden Canadians by outshooting them 7-0 in the three-on-three overtime period.

“We have some speedy players that when you’re in a three-on-three situation, they can generate some momentum for us, which is great,” U.S. captain Hilary Knight said. “It’s a fast game. It’s the fastest you’ll see, U.S. versus Canada. And it’s a lot of fun to play in from the player’s perspective.”

The outcome was decided when Simms scored to convert a three-on-one break after Canada’s Brianne Jenner fell and coughed up the puck in the U.S. zone. Caroline Harvey led the rush up the left wing and centered to Simms, who was able to get off a shot despite her stick being pulled from behind by Canada’s Jocelyne Larocque.

Larocque’s back-checking changed the trajectory of the puck, which fooled Desbiens in beating her low between the skates.

“Obviously, a super surreal moment,” said Simms, who has been playing on a so-called “all-rookie line” rounded out by Wisconsin teammate Laila Edwards and Ohio State’s Joy Dunne.

“I feel like we were really pushing and playing downhill the whole third period, and just stuck to our game,” she added. “So I feel like when we came out in overtime, we knew that we were just going to finish it out.”

The U.S, which defeated Canada 6-3 in the world championship gold-medal game last year, bounced back after losing four straight to the Canadians in a best-of-seven Rivalry Series held this past winter.

“It is disappointing. You never want to lose, especially to the U.S.,” Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin said. “It was fast, quick, physical. That’s what we were expecting. They have a great team.”

And there remains a very good likelihood the cross-border rivals will meet once again in the tournament final on Sunday.

The United States, which has won 10 gold medals to the Canada’s 12, improved to 18-17 against the Canadians in world championship play — and the teams are now tied in having scored 98 goals each against each other.

Frankel was sharp playing in front of a defense that limited most of Canada's shots from the outside. Among her best stops were getting a piece of Emma Maltais’ hard shot from the left circle with six minutes left in regulation, and turning aside Natalie Spooner’s shot on a two-on-one break with 3:30 left in the second period.

AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

More than 2,100 people have been arrested during pro-Palestinian protests on US college campuses

2024-05-03 10:59 Last Updated At：11:00

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police have arrested more than 2,100 people during pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the United States in recent weeks, sometimes using riot gear, tactical vehicles and flash-bang devices to clear tent encampments and occupied buildings. One officer accidentally discharged his gun inside a Columbia University administration building while clearing out protesters camped inside, authorities disclosed Thursday.

No one was injured by the officer's mistake late Tuesday inside Hamilton Hall on the Columbia campus, the NYPD said Thursday. He was trying to use the flashlight attached to his gun at the time and instead fired a single round that struck a frame on the wall.

There were other officers but no students in the immediate vicinity, officials said. Body camera footage shows when the officer's gun went off, but the district attorney's office is conducting a review, a standard practice.

More than 100 people were taken into custody during the Columbia crackdown, just a fraction of the total arrests stemming from recent campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. A tally by The Associated Press on Thursday found at least 50 incidents of arrests at 40 different U.S. colleges or universities since April 18.

Early Thursday, officers surged against a crowd of demonstrators at University of California, Los Angeles, ultimately taking at least 200 protesters into custody after hundreds defied orders to leave, some forming human chains as police fired flash-bangs to break up the crowds. Police tore apart a fortified encampment’s barricade of plywood, pallets, metal fences and dumpsters, then pulled down canopies and tents.

Like at UCLA, tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support the war in Gaza have spread across other campuses nationwide in a student movement unlike any other this century. Iranian state television carried live images of the police action at UCLA, as did Qatar’s pan-Arab Al Jazeera satellite network. Live images of Los Angeles also played across Israeli television networks.

Israel has branded the protests antisemitic, while Israel’s critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, protest organizers — some of whom are Jewish — call it a peaceful movement to defend Palestinian rights and protest the war.

President Joe Biden on Thursday defended the right of students to peaceful protest but decried the disorder of recent days.

The demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 with students calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on Oct. 7 and took roughly 250 hostages in an attack on southern Israel.

On April 18, the NYPD cleared Columbia's initial encampment and arrested roughly 100 protesters. The demonstrators set up new tents and defied threats of suspension, and escalated their actions early Tuesday by occupying Hamilton Hall, an administration building that was similarly seized in 1968 by students protesting racism and the Vietnam War.

Roughly 20 hours later, officers stormed the hall. Video showed police with zip ties and riot shields streaming through a second-floor window. Police had said protesters inside presented no substantial resistance.

The officer's gun went off at 9:38 p.m., the NYPD said, about 10 minutes after police started pouring into Hamilton Hall. The department did not name the officer, whose actions were first reported by news outlet The City on Thursday.

The confrontations at UCLA also played out over several days this week. UCLA Chancellor Gene Block told alumni on a call Thursday afternoon that the trouble started after a permitted pro-Israel rally was held on campus Sunday and fights broke out and “live mice” were tossed into the pro-Palestinian encampment later that day.

In the following days, administrators tried to find a peaceful solution with members of the encampment and expected things to remain stable, Block said.

That changed late Tuesday, he said, when counterdemonstrators attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment. Campus administrators and police did not intervene or call for backup for hours. No one was arrested that night, but at least 15 protesters were injured. The delayed response drew criticism from political leaders, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and officials pledged an independent review.

“We certainly weren’t thinking that we’d end up with a large number of violent people, that hadn’t happened before,” Block said on the call.

By Wednesday, the encampment had become “much more of a bunker” and there was no other solution but to have police dismantle it, he said.

The hourslong standoff went into Thursday morning as officers warned over loudspeakers that there would be arrests if the crowd — at the time more than 1,000 strong inside the encampment as well as outside of it — did not disperse. Hundreds left voluntarily, while another 200-plus remained and were ultimately taken into custody.

Meanwhile, protest encampments at other schools across the U.S. have been cleared by police — resulting in more arrests — or closed up voluntarily. But University of Minnesota officials reached an agreement with protesters not to disrupt commencements, and similar compromises have been made at Northwestern University in suburban Chicago, Rutgers University in New Jersey and Brown University in Rhode Island.

Ariel Dardashti, a graduating UCLA senior studying global studies and sociology, said no student should feel unsafe at school.

“It should not get to the point where students are being arrested,” Dardashti said on campus Thursday.

Watson reported from San Diego, Keller from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Thompson from Buffalo, New York. Associated Press journalists around the country contributed to this report, including Kavish Harjai, Krysta Fauria, Leslie Ambriz, John Antczak, Christopher L. Keller, Lisa Baumann, Stefanie Dazio, Jae C. Hong, Colleen Long, Karen Matthews, Sarah Brumfield, Carolyn Thompson, Philip Marcelo, Steve Karnowski and Eugene Johnson.