“The start of the game was tough because for the first 10 minutes we were killing multiple penalties,” said Team USA Head Coach Mark Johnson (Madison, Wis.), who is also the head women’s ice hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin. “That put us on our heels and we never really got out of the gate. However, we kept competing and made a little bit of a game out of it in the third period.

“Overall, we made huge strides from the start of the tournament to now,” continued Johnson. “Hopefully now the players can take this experience and continue to prepare for our camp in December.”

Canada scored a quick pair of goals to take a 2-0 lead in the opening period. The first came at the tail-end of a Canadian power play, shortly after a 5-on-3 had expired, when Cherie Piper grabbed the puck at the U.S. blue line, skated it into the right faceoff circle and wound up for a shot that beat Team USA netminder Chanda Gunn (Huntington Beach, Calif.) to the far post at 4:26.

Continuing with the momentum, Team Canada lit the lamp again 44 seconds later as Carla MacLeod swatted in Sarah Vaillancourt’s rebound from the doorstep.

Canada scored the lone goal of the middle frame when Hayley Wickenheiser skated in on a loose puck after a scuffle in front of the U.S. net and slapped it in at 3:37 for the 3-0 score.

In the final period, Canada’s Caroline Ouellette potted a wrister from the slot at 2:12 before the United States beat Canadian goaltender Kim St-Pierre for the first time in the tournament. Natalie Darwitz (Eagan, Minn.) scored for Team USA from the left post on the power play at 11:02 after Krissy Wendell (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) sent her a pass in front of the net.

Team USA cut the Canadian lead to two at 15: 20 when Kristin King (Piqua, Ohio) tipped in an Angela Ruggiero (Harper Woods, Mich.) rebound.

The United States pulled Gunn in favor of an extra skater in the last minutes of play, but Canada scored on the empty net for the 5-2 final score.

Gunn made 32 saves in net for the United States, while St-Pierre stopped 26 for Canada.

NOTES: Natalie Darwitz earned U.S. Player of the Game honors …Team USA’s second goal was the first even-strength goal scored against Canada in the tournament ... Darwitz and Krissy Wendell led the United States with nine points (3-6) apiece to tie Canada’s Jayna Hefford for the tournament lead in points... Team USA scored a combined six power-play goals in the last three games ... Hilary Knight (Hanover, N.H.), Erika Lawler (Fitchburg, Mass.), Jocelyne Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.), Gigi Marvin (Warroad, Minn.) and Karen Thatcher (Douglas, Mass.) all scored their first career goals for the United States during the tournament ... The United States has earned either the gold or silver medal in each of the nine years it has competed in the Four Nations Cup (Three Nations Cup from 1996-99), including back-to-back silver medals in 2004 and 2005 … Joining Mark Johnson on the coaching staff as assistant coaches are Hilary Witt (Hamden, Conn.), head women’s ice hockey coach at Yale University, and Erin Whitten Hamlen (Hampton, N.H.), associate head women’s ice hockey coach at the University of New Hampshire.