Story byKristen Lipscombe (Lippy)Mon, January 19, 2026 at 5:22 AM UTC·6 min readSYDNEY, N. S. — American netminder Bianca Birittieri made an incredible 38 saves, while linemates Emily Pohl and Lindsay Stepnowski scored in the first and second, to help lead the United States to a 2-0 gold medal victory Sunday night at U18 Women's Worlds in Nova Scotia — and not just any gold medal world championship win at that. The Americans reclaimed gold medal bragging rights, marking their 10th title at the IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship, and did so on Canadian ice, in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 5,000 fans at Centre 200 in Cape Breton Island. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNot only did they fight against a sea of red and white spectators and a strong, skilled Canadian squad, but according to the International Ice Hockey Federation, this American contingent is the first national under-18 team to ever win "perfect gold" at U18 Women's Worlds, which means the stripes and stars squad never trailed an opponent and were never tied throughout the entire week-and-a-half-long international tournament. This was a history-making world championship. The U. S. coaching staff told its team to "do the same thing we've been doing," Pohl said to media of the stick-to-habits message she and her teammates followed throughout the tournament, since it proved so successful, and ultimately "perfect" in the IIHF stats."Obviously, I think we did it well," Pohl said, a big smile on her face and a gold medal wrapped around her neck, teammates Taila Hansen and Birittieri at her side. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"We just played fast, re-loaded(ed) pucks and just worked our hearts out," added Hansen, whose smile matched her teammates and message echoed what head coach Courtney Kennedy told media after the game."They've been training and buying in every day, all the time," said Kennedy, whose lineage hails from Glace Bay on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, slight tears forming in her eyes as she spoke of her late grandmother and family from the host province for the world championship."We were kind of hard on them in terms of trying to understand the system," Kennedy said.
