The U.S. women's hockey team won Olympic gold Thursday in Italy in dramatic fashion. Megan Keller, who grew up in Farmington, Michigan, put in a backhand shot in overtime to give the United States a 2 to 1 victory over Canada.
American captain Hilary Knight had forced overtime with a tip-in goal with just over two minutes remaining. The goal was the 15th of her Olympic career.
This is the third gold medal for the U.S. women's hockey team. They also won in 1998 in Nagano and in 2018 in Pyeongchang.
Michigan Public sports commentator John U. Bacon joined Morning Edition host Doug Tribou for a look at more of the latest in the world of sports.
Doug Tribou: The University of Michigan men’s basketball team is No. 1 in the country in the latest Associated Press poll. The Wolverines are 25-1 with five regular season games left. They knocked off No. 7 Purdue on Tuesday night. What stands out to you about their season so far?
JUB: Well, they've done it kind of every which way so far. They've done it with big men down low. They've done it with outside shooting, as they did against Purdue shooting, I think, 57% from three-point, which is ridiculous. And they played at Purdue, which is a very tough place to play. So that's a very good team. That's a big-boy win right there, for sure.
But also here's a fun fact for you: with Michigan, if you only counted the wins they had by double digits, they would still be first place in the Big Ten. So, a lot of their wins are 20, 30, 40 points. Just true blowouts. This is a dominant team.
"They've done it kind of every which way so far."John U. Bacon on the Michigan men's basketball team, currently ranked No. 1 in the nation
DT: Big game coming up for Michigan. They'll face No. 3 Duke on Saturday evening in a neutral-site nonconference game in Washington, D.C.
A little bit of a different story for Michigan State, John. They've lost three of five, fallen to 15th in the country with just several games left. Is there enough time for [head coach] Tom Izzo to get on track and get hot before tournament time?
JUB: Absolutely. And his teams almost always do as they reach the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA tournament, of course. And in that mix, they did beat a very good Illinois team. Look, the Big Ten is brutal. That's all there is to it. A third or fourth-place team in the Big Ten could be in the Final Four, and State could be one of them.
DT: In Olympic men's ice hockey, the United States defeated Sweden 2-1 on Wednesday. So that was a good day for team USA. Also a good day for University of Michigan alums.
JUB: Yeah, here's an odd stat for you: University of Michigan hockey players 2, Sweden 1. I was not ready for that sentence. [Laughs] And you might not have been either. Dylan Larkin from Waterford, Mich., who played at the University of Michigan, [current] captain of the [Detroit] Red Wings, he scored the first goal and in overtime, Quinn Hughes, who played at Michigan, as well, scored the winner.
And let me tell you, Doug, right now, this is some of the best hockey you will ever see. Of the four quarterfinal games, three of them went to overtime. Canada escaped, Finland escaped, U.S. escaped. And all those three teams are in the final four now. It is wonderful hockey to watch.
In the latest men's college hockey rankings, three of the four top teams are from the state of Michigan.
DT: The men's ice hockey semifinals are Friday. In the first game, Canada faces Finland. In the second game, the U.S. faces Slovakia. Then the bronze medal game is on Saturday. Gold medal game will be on Sunday.
Sticking with hockey, the top of the rankings in men's college hockey is still loaded with teams from Michigan. At No. 1, Michigan State. No. 2, Michigan. No. 3 is North Dakota, but No. 4 is Western Michigan. How tight are the margins between these top teams?
JUB: How about non-existent? Is that tight enough for you?
DT: [Laughs] That's tight. Yeah, that's very tight.
JUB: Okay. There you go. Well, look, I mean, Michigan, Michigan State are 2-2 against each other. Michigan, Western Michigan split their two games, one win each. These teams are all basically equal. So speaking of great hockey, coming up is the Big Ten Tournament, as well as the NCAA tournament, and all four of those teams are going to be in it.
You're going to see some knock-down, drag-out hockey and any one of those teams could win it. And of course, last year Western Michigan did. So if you're a hockey fan in the state of Michigan, your cup runneth over.
Editor's note: Some quotes in this article have been lightly edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the full conversation near the top of this page.
