The U.S. women’s hockey team crushed Japan 10-0 on Thursday to reach the world championship semifinals in Utica, New York.
Alex Carpenter and Abbey Murphy each had two goals in the biggest rout of the tournament, while Hilary Knight had one goal and three assists.
Joy Dunne, the youngest player on the team at age 18, became the youngest U.S. woman to score at a worlds since Sarah Parsons in 2005.
Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield, who had two assists on Thursday, moved into second place on the career world championship assists list, each three behind Canadian Hall of Famer Hayley Wickenheiser, who had 49.
Knight already holds the world championship records for career points (110) and goals (64).
Aerin Frankel stopped all 14 Japan shots.
The U.S., eyeing a repeat world title, gets 2022 Olympic bronze medalist Finland in Saturday’s semifinals.
The other semifinal pits 2022 Olympic champion Canada against Czechia (formerly called the Czech Republic), which took world bronze the last two years.
The U.S. and Canada have met in 21 of the 22 world championship gold-medal games.
The U.S. won last year’s world title in Brampton, Ontario, with Knight scoring a hat trick in the final against Canada.
First #WomensWorlds, first goal for Joy Dunne! pic.twitter.com/bApFuje89r
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) April 12, 2024
