USA wins Olympic gold in women’s hockey. How 4 Seattle players made their marks

Players with Seattle’s new professional women’s hockey team helped Team USA win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

The U.S. women’s hockey team beat reigning champion Canada 2–1 in overtime in Milan, Italy, after dominating through the entire tournament.

The team featured several players from Washington state’s new addition to the Professional Women’s Hockey League, the Seattle Torrent.

Here’s how Torrent players contributed to the winning run:

How many games did women’s hockey play in 2026 Olympics?

The Winter Olympics women’s hockey tournament started Feb. 5 with 10 teams, split into two groups.

Group A included five teams ranked by the International Ice Hockey Federation, who all advanced to the quarterfinals regardless of their performance in the preliminary games.

Preliminaries spanned 20 games across both groups, with each team playing the other four in their group once.

Group B included the remaining five teams: Italy, Japan, France, Sweden and Germany. The top three teams from this group advanced from preliminaries to the quarterfinals, leaving out Japan and France.

From there, games were single elimination.

Italy, Czechia, Germany and Finland were eliminated in the quarterfinals, while Sweden and Switzerland were eliminated in the semifinals.

The final gold medal winning game between Team Canada and Team USA began at 10:10 a.m. Pacific Time on Thursday, Feb. 19.

The bronze medal game began earlier the same morning, with Switzerland overtaking Sweden in overtime.

Which Seattle Torrent players played in Winter Olympics?

The Seattle Torrent’s inaugural captain, Hilary Knight, served as captain of the U.S. women’s hockey team at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

A legendary player, Knight has been to the Olympic Games four other times across her impressive career.

Knight announced in 2025 that the 2026 Winter Games would be her final appearance at the Olympics.

Following Thursday’s win, she has two gold medals and three silver medals.

While in Milan, she also got engaged to her longtime partner, speedskater Brittany Bowe. The pair met at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.

“Olympics brought us together,” Knight wrote in her Feb. 18 Instagram post announcing the engagement. “This one made us forever.”

Knight put up three goals and three assists throughout the Olympic tournament.

Three Torrent players joined Knight on Team USA in 2026: defender Cayla Barnes and forwards Alex Carpenter and Hannah Bilka.

They faced their teammate, Torrent forward Julia Gosling on Team Canada in the gold medal game.

Torrent defender Aneta Tejralová also competed for Team Czechia during the Olympics women’s hockey tournament.

How did Seattle Torrent players do at Olympic Games?

All Torrent players on Team USA scored at least one goal during the tournament. The team’s first goal came from Carpenter on a power play in their first preliminary game.

Together, the Torrent put up 11 of 32 goals by the U.S. team across all seven games.

Bilka scored four goals, Carpenter and Knight both had three and Barnes scored one.

Bilka, Carpenter and Knight all racked up three assists across the games. Team USA’s first game even featured an all-Torrent goal, when Knight scored with assists from Carpenter and Bilka.

Knight now holds the records for most goals and most points acquired by an American women’s hockey player at the Olympic Games.

Tejralová was the only Torrent player at the Olympics who did not acquire at least one point. Gosling had three goals and two assists.

Team USA do in Women’s Hockey at the Milan Olympics?

Headed into Thursday’s game, the U.S. women’s hockey team was undefeated.

Team Canada lost only one game throughout the tournament — its preliminary against Team USA.

Canada was the defending champion, with Team USA falling to its northern neighbors in the final game at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Of the seven previous Olympic women’s hockey tournaments, Canada and the United States have faced off in six. Canada has won the tournament five times, and Team USA has won twice.

Knight’s record-breaking goal in the final game wasn’t the only Olympic record set by Team USA.

Team USA broke the all-time record for longest shutout in Olympic hockey history, beating the previous records for both men’s and women’s hockey.

The U.S. women’s hockey team played for two straight weeks at the Olympics without a single team scoring against them. The only goal scored on Team USA before the final was during its first game on Feb. 5, versus Czechia.

After that, no goals were scored against Team USA again until the second period of the gold medal game.

That’s more than 352 game minutes without a goal against the American team. In that time, Team USA scored 28 goals on other teams.

When do the Seattle Torrent play again?

The 2026 Olympic Games wrap up with the closing ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 22.

The Seattle Torrent season continues Friday, Feb. 27, with a home game at Climate Pledge Arena against the Toronto Sceptres at 7 p.m.

Other upcoming Torrent games include:

• March 4 at Ottawa Chargers
• March 11 versus Boston Fleet
• March 13 at Minnesota Frost
• March 15 at Toronto Sceptres

This story was originally published February 19, 2026 at 3:59 PM.